


to rule the world | a ninjago au

by dommiewrites



Series: 𝙎𝙊𝙉𝙂𝙎 𝙊𝙁 𝘿𝙀𝘼𝙏𝙃 - ninjago highschool au [2]
Category: Lego Ninjago
Genre: Ninjago, i cant write romance sorry, ninjago fanfiction, ninjago highschool au, slowburn, what teh fuck am i doing
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-07
Updated: 2021-03-08
Packaged: 2021-03-09 22:13:52
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 12
Words: 34,016
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27933664
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dommiewrites/pseuds/dommiewrites
Summary: 𝙏𝙊 𝙍𝙐𝙇𝙀 𝙏𝙃𝙀 𝙒𝙊𝙍𝙇𝘿 [second book in the SONGS OF DEATH series]They barely made it out alive. Nine teenagers, nine different sides to a story they didn’t ask to be in. A betrayal none of them saw coming has forced the elemental teens underneath Ninjago City. As they fight and question who’s trust they can keep, they learn of the legends and myths, and who’s turn is next on a chess board of life and death.What other choice do they have?warning: this is not exactly like the tv show, their personalities may differ. swearing and mature themes. it is not required to watch the show to read this fic.
Relationships: Astra/Kade, Kai/Skylor (Ninjago), Lloyd Garmadon/Harumi, Nya/Jay Walker, P.I.X.A.L./Zane (Ninjago)
Series: 𝙎𝙊𝙉𝙂𝙎 𝙊𝙁 𝘿𝙀𝘼𝙏𝙃 - ninjago highschool au [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1976005
Comments: 41
Kudos: 16





	1. Chapter 1

Ahahahahah welcome to another shit show.

Um. Some things to address.

This is your formal warning that if you don’t read moral of the story (1st book, check out my page) you will literally have no fucking clue what is going on. So read it because otherwise you will have no clue what’s going on and it’ll be spoiled and that's not fun.

This book also has some pretty mature themes. Death, gore, murder, substance abuse, swearing, domestic abuse and so on. So be warned. It’s like life, but a bit worse. It’s not like the show either, this is a completely different au where they were in high school.

There will be mistakes, some in lore or facts, mostly in grammar and spelling because as much as I edit my brain doesn’t comprehend anything so poggers. I’m also trying out some new formatting stuff so bare with me p l e a s e.

Points to address: When I start updating January 2021 it’ll be once a week updates, with chapter lengths depending on how my sanity sustains. Other books like Ninjago Oneshots and All The Stars, and among us/ninjago fic will be updated in the time being. (but be warned i may just succumb and post a chapter out of the blue. But _regular_ updates starting Jan). Ummmmmmmmmmmm.

I don’t own Ninjago or Lego, I just own the plot, my OC’s, and my slowly deteriorating sanity.

Uh. I have no idea how long this book is gonna take. Or how long it will be. I suck at this kinda stuff. Just. Um. read.

Oh. Do you like the cover?

!this a/n may be updated if i need to add more stuff!


	2. introduction

As we stand, Ninjago City has fallen in many eyes.

To some, it is stronger than it has ever been before. 

The current situation, at 11:38 pm, is that the Sons of Garmadon have fully retreated into their underground base. Emperor Wu is determined to finish the repairs on his city, and make his next move. The problem is, what piece is he planning to use first?

  
  


**THE SONS OF GARMADON**

_previously mentioned members_

**_Obliterate_** — medic

 ** _Joker_** — medic

 ** _Destroyer_** — agent

 ** _Reaper_** — agent [master of death]

 **_The Lord_ **— leader [master of destruction]

 ** _Tellum_** — weapons master

 ** _Whisperer_** — agent

 ** _Maul_** — agent

 **_Titanium_ ** — inventor [master of metal]

 ** _Thorn_** — GA teacher

 ** _Magis_** — teacher

 ** _Valley_** — tech specialist

 ** _Typhoon_** — agent

 ** _Arsyn_** — agent

**THE HUNTED**

_current_

**_Kai Smith_** — master of fire

 ** _Nya Smith_** — master of water

 ** _Lloyd Garmadon_** — master of energy

 **_Skylor Chen_ **— master of amber

 ** _Jay Walker_** — master of lightning

 **_Cole Brookstone_ **— master of earth

 **_Zane Julien_ **— master of ice

  
  


**ADDITIONALLY**

_we have_

**_Pixal Borg_** — samurai in training

 **_Kade Gorski_ **— associated with the SOG [master of healing]

 **_Annabella Han_ **— associated with the SOG

 **_Zander Loughty_ **— associated with the SOG

 **_Harumi Brassard_ **— wu’s right hand

 **_Rema Barron_ **— master of life

 **_Elemental Masters_ **— all, hiding or in the open

 **_Wu Garmadon_ **— emperor of ninjago

  
  


**AN UNUSUAL PAIRING IN WAR**

_THE SONS OF GARMADON + UNKNOWN ALLIES_

**_VS_ **

_WU GARMADON + NINJAGO_

——————————————————————

_we are all our own icarus,_

_our wings will eventually melt,_

_and we will plummet down_

_to meet a painful end._

_everything is inevitable._

_but we can delay our own doom,_

_build our wings stronger and stronger,_

_hope they don’t melt so quickly,_

_and see how long we can fly_

_without dying a death inevitable._

——————————————————————

  
Lmfaoo welcome to book two of the songs of death series kids! Now I’m not updating properly till January next year, yadda yadda, but just check out some of my other books. What you _can_ have is the prologue. gg lads, let’s see how this goes.


	3. prologue

**astra**

It had become unbearably cold in the training room after Zane lost control of his powers.

On the first day of their new training regime, Garmadon had royally fucked up in prodding Zane’s powers with the suggestion of the Juliens falling into Wu’s hands. Zane had retaliated with his element, just on a scale they hadn’t been prepared to combat. Thankfully, Cole had been whipped into shape for throwing up sturdy rock walls as many others had lost control of their powers, and most of the ice storm had been blocked by the wall.

After that, they’d had to shovel chunks of ice away with their powers in some unique form as a team training exercise, but it was in mellow silence and with little communication as they shivered from the lingering cold. Every time Zane walked into train, the elemental training hall would drop a few degrees colder and they’d continue to train in the chill.

“The Lord wants to speak to you and Junior,” Titanium mentioned quietly. Astra flinched from the sudden conversation but nodded, dropping her bow to flex her numbing hands. “In his quarters.”

Right. They were probably addressing the bomb Cass had dropped on Astra and Lloyd over a week ago.

That she and Lloyd were twins.

At first, she’d laughed and then immediately left, but the simple statement kept coming back to her. She’d avoided Garmadon and Lloyd for the last week in order to pretend that issue had disappeared entirely. Sighing, she began to make her way towards the quarters at a sluggish pace. Astra passed by harried scouts carrying new reports and intel to the war room, through the elemental training hall where Jay and Skylor were working on her lightning grab, and then through the renovated maze of catacombs to the Lord’s quarters.

Lloyd was already waiting there, looking mildly peeved when he saw her. He was still mad at her for stabbing Kai, but she wasn’t concerned about that at the moment.

She knocked and waited for the door to creak open by itself, and stepped in with Lloyd behind her. Garmadon’s quarters were extensive but barely furnished with no personal touch at all. He sat behind his desk, tapping away at his laptop without looking up.

“Sit down.” He muttered, scowling as he typed faster. 

Five minutes later, he finally stopped his report and slammed the laptop shut. The printer behind him started a new round of papers.

“Your mother is arriving tonight,” Garmadon said flatly. “I want you there to greet her. South entrance.”

“She’s not my mother,” Astra replied in the same stiff tone. “I don’t have one.”

_ Sandy Harlow. _

Garmadon looked at her blankly and then leant behind him to snatch the inked papers from the printer. “Copies of your birth certificates. Lloyd Montgomery Garmadon, born at eleven fifty-seven on Saturday the seventh of August. Astra Lillianna Garmadon, born at eleven fifty-nine on Saturday the seventh of August. Born to Montogmery and Misako Garmadon.”

“My — the middle name is  _ Lillianna? _ ” 

“Your mother chose it.”

_ Stop. Saying. Mother. _

She turned the birth certificate upside down decisively so the blank side faced up and looked to Garmadon.

“I’ll take Junior to meet his mother. What time?”

“Nine thirty on the dot. Your mother might be surprised to see you, so perhaps ease her into it.” More of a statement than a suggestion, really.

“I don’t remember her, so fat chance she’ll remember me.” She spat back coldly. “Wait for me in the cafeteria by nine-fifteen, Junior, or I’m leaving you behind.”

Astra walked out blinking back tears that seemed to burn in her eyes.

_ I don’t need anyone. _

Instead of going directly to the normal training arena to drain away the five hours like she’d planned, Astra swung by her dorm to pick up fresh wraps for her hands since her current ones were ragged strips. Their dorms were usually empty at this time of the day. Really, the only time they were all in there together was at night when they slept. Even then, Astra rarely slept anymore. In her own room, at least. Since it was one of the smaller dorms, some stuff had been shuffled around. It was almost like a hospital now, the single beds and cubbies curtained off for privacy, with a small living area that had been put together for socialising.

So it was a surprise to see the rest of the girls watching a show on the TV, giggling away as they passed around the massive bowl of popcorn. Astra stood awkwardly in the space between the two lines of beds and finally decided to get her wraps and then get the hell out of there. In the bottom of her narrow wardrobe was a tub of boxing supplies. She picked out two rolls of purple wraps and then pocketed them, pausing to check her reflection in the mirror.

Would it be narcissistic to look in a mirror? The thought was quickly shut down by the girl that greeted her. She looked like death, ironically. Her cheeks were sallow and the bags under her eyes weirdly softened her sharp, arced features. As much as she cooked and baked, she never really ate the food she made. Nothing more than nibbles or tastes in the making of the dishes. She’d grown a bit, surprisingly. Not as tall as Kade was, unfortunately, but she was a bit taller than she used to be. It balanced out the lean muscles that were beginning to stick to her body again. 

“Astra!” Bells chirped cheerily just as she opened the door to leave “Come watch with us, Pixal managed to hack the Netflix lines and get us access to all of Stranger Things!”

“I—uh—”

“C’mon, you’ve trained every afternoon for ages. Take a break.” Skylor offered her a thin smile through cheeks stuffed with popcorn. “We thought you and Lloyd would be with Garmadon for a bit longer, sorry.”

Astra stood frozen for a moment as she weighed the choices in her head. “Just one episode, then.”

That was a lie.

They were half way through the first season and Astra had forgotten completely about training as she was invested in the show, wincing at the obvious clue drops and then realising she’d been fooled with wide eyes. It was nice hanging out for once, when they weren’t all tense and could relax. Her watch vibrated angrily and she blinked blearily through the low light and swore as she tumbled off the couch.

“Lloyd’s mother is coming soon. I have to go. Tell me what happens, or I swear I will poison tomorrow's pizza rounds.” 

Staggering into the cafeteria after nearly bowling over Thorn in the hallway, Astra skidded to a halt and caught her breath in a successful attempt to keep the popcorn in her stomach. She was in her normal uniform - not the war one, the everyday clothing without special fibres and detailing. She only had her katana and her knives on her at the moment.

Lloyd was slouched at a table and raised his head when she entered with a simple nod of greeting. She scowled at him, and then led him over to the south entrance in silence. It was a lesser known entrance than the sewer one - that one was for pure accessibility, but this one was rarely used. They had hundreds of entrances, all guarded, to confuse any attackers. That was a liability too, however. More entrance meant more exits.

The guard on duty at the south entrance was someone Astra had never met before. They nodded sharply and kept their ramrod posture as they waited behind the door listlessly. Lloyd was playing with the strings of his hoodie like a cat - easily entertained. She resorted to sharpening her knives and practicing different throwing forms. Just the start, because her knives, no matter how sharp they were, would never make it through thick concrete.

_ Look kid, the only one who can decide if you die is you. _

She squeezed her eyes shut as the memory of Riptide faded away.

“Reaper, she’s here.” Said the guard’s voice from outside the thick security door. “She wants to talk to you both straight away.”

Astra mumbled something and remained slouched against the wall as the door hissed open. Misako Garmadon walked in and paused in between Astra and Lloyd. Astra dipped her head towards Lloyd silently and took a step back as they hugged. Her grim smile thinned as she watched Misako take in Lloyd from head to toe after smothering him in a motherly hug.

Not even a second glance at her.

But she’d said it herself earlier. There was no way for Misako to know it was her. To Misako, she was just another SOG member. She sheathed her knives and waited for them to finish glumly. Lloyd turned to Astra, looking happier than he’d ever been underground in the catacombs with his eyes shining brightly.

“Mum, this is Astra.”

Misako’s eyes flicked to Astra. The older woman tilted her head and Astra could almost see the cogs turning as Misako gave a small gasp.

“Monty found you.”

Astra looked at Misako, her jaw set as she analysed the woman before her.

“I found myself.”

—

**A/N: welcome back everybody! It hasn’t even been a week and I’m already itching to get back to writing this series, even though I know I** **_should_ ** **be taking a break. Just to reiterate some points: I am extremely busy, but I’ll be too tempted to post a chapter randomly, so don’t be surprised if this gets updated before January. January is just regular updates. Oh, and Astra’s POV will appear a lot more often than everyone else, but don’t worry they’ll all get a turn! I’m also going to start asking you guys questions and giving you a song of the chapter!**

**The song is ‘Where’s my love’ by SYML, I believe. Very pog song.**

**This chapter’s Q is: ‘What is your go-to comfort book (fiction, wattpad, ao3, whatever)**

**(drop some comments I need reccs)**

**My A: ‘Don’t really have one, actually. Wait no, Famous Five. An oldie but a goodie.’**

**-dommie out**


	4. [1] im back people lets do this

**astra**

“Do  _ not  _ test me, Junior,”

“Why’d you have to be so rude to her? She hasn’t done anything to you.”

“Exactly.”

“You can’t still be on about that.” Lloyd whined. Astra shot him a glower and he stopped the whiny tone, but persisted eagerly in his little mission. “It’s been three weeks, at least  _ try  _ to be nice to her.”

“No thanks,” Astra snapped, tearing the sports tape away with her teeth. She wound the tape around her ankle and stretched her foot to check the support. When she was sure it was tight enough, she lobbed the roll back into the gigantic bin of tapes and started walking away.

“Can you at least stop calling me Junior? Everyone’s calling me that now, and I really don’t want to be known as ‘ _ Junior _ ’. If anything, you should be called Junior too!”

“Just drop it, okay? It’s not that hard to just  _ shut up _ .”

“You don’t have to be so rude all the time, you know? We’re trying too.”

“ _ What? _ ”

Lloyd’s mouth pursed as he looked deep in thought. “We’re trying to be nice. It’s hard times, we’re all stuck underground and you’re just being rude and overall pissy.”

Astra glared at him, internally aghast. “Take that back.”

“N- _ o _ .”

“Take. That. Back.”

“N. O. Spells no.”

Lloyd had annoyed Astra enough the entire week she’d been stuck with babysitting him - something about bonding - and really, it was all just building up to one point. Just as Lloyd dropped a cheeky grin, Astra let go of her bow and tackled him into the closest wall without thinking properly in the slightest.

Her fist drew back and slammed into Lloyd’s stomach without hesitation twice before she stopped. Not because she felt bad, or because she was tired, but because Lloyd was  _ laughing _ . Nearly doubled over in laughter as he rolled around on the floor, each shaky breath bringing tears of laughter to his eyes. He did gasp for air after she punched him again the gut and his eyes nearly popped out like a fish, and that really was the funniest part.

“You’re just —  _ ha  _ — proving my point, Astra. Crap, you punch hard, holy—”

“You  _ have  _ no point.” She said stoutly, refusing to oblige to the fact that maybe the insufferable twat was right.

Lloyd looked at her and then sighed. “Okay, fine. I’ll make a bet with you.”

“A bet?” One of her eyebrows raised in piqued interest.

“If you be nice to everyone for the next three weeks, and speak to my — our mother, I’ll tell everyone my middle name is Montgomery. And I’ll get my codename to be Junior.”

Her eyes narrowed suspiciously. There had to be a catch. There was always one, and this offer was way too good to refuse without some trick. When they resumed walking, Astra had thought it over several times and was prepared to take the risk, catch or not. She’d just ignore it.

“You’re taking a codename?”

“Well,” Lloyd scrunched up his face in thought again. “Everyone’s getting them, and they sound cool I s’pose. Not that we’re part of the SOG or anything.”

“Alright then. Bet.”

“Excellent.” Lloyd grinned. “Happy three weeks, Lillianna.”

“Shove off, Junior.”

o o o

She should not have made the bet.

One of Lloyd’s friends was  _ always  _ around her, swooping like a hawk with big smirks as they did their very best to provoke her into snapping at them. It turned out that Lloyd was just as stubborn as she was and had restricted her from  _ swearing _ besides a multitude of other things he’d considered ‘not nice’. And worst of all was when Walker was hovering around. It wasn’t that he didn’t swear, it was more so he’d taken up the habit of promptly saying ‘ _ Language!’  _ whenever she opened her mouth to speak.

Strangely, the bet meant she was getting more sleep.

It had been nearly two months since she’d been in her first proper battle, and she’d rarely slept in that time. Slept properly, at least. She was quick to wake and the time she got barely counted as sleep. She still felt tired when she rose but her body seemed to appreciate the forced efforts. At least then the incessant squawking ceased as everyone had to sleep.

But sometimes she couldn’t quite win over sleep and found herself in the communal kitchen and three in the morning with something in the oven. More often than not it was a dessert - cookies to be exact, because they were easy to bake on autopilot and if they got burnt she could say it was Kai’s fault. A weak excuse, but entirely plausible. Smith had been up and walking for a week or so now with some extended recovery and had kept out of her way pleasantly.

Everyone else, now that she was making a painstaking effort to be nice, had actually become quite bearable at some point. In a more philosophical sense of mind it may have been her majorly negative view on things that was also affecting her. Despite all of this, everything felt...off. Something was wrong. They’d attacked Wu, but nothing had come back to bite them.

Astra knew that a covert team had been sent out to recover the remaining parents. Misako had found her own way there, but Lou, the Juliens, and the Walkers were still out there. Chen, Maya Smith and Cyrus Borg were in Wu’s hands and basically out of reach until a rescue plan would be proposed. Everyone was clearly worried about their parents, captured or not, and it didn’t help that she was so indifferent about it. Astra knew that. She just didn’t know how to exactly help them.

Instead of trying to talk about it, Astra found herself to be putting in extra effort into training to distract her mind. She spent hours in the Arena and the Gym, flipping through obstacle courses and hoping that her powers would do more than just fizzle out disappointingly. She and Lloyd were having the same trouble with their powers, which was why they’d been stuck together for training. It had been over two weeks since the bet was made, and Astra was determined not to mess up in her last week.

Really, she’d done everything but speak to Misako. Mostly, she could put it off because Misako was holed up with their researchers, their library and labs, and Astra didn’t visit there that often. She practically lived in the Arena and the Medwing. Sometimes she saw Misako come out for meals, but Astra always felt very awkward and like there were weights dragging her feet down to the core of the earth, telling her  _ no, it’s a terrible idea. _

It didn't help the fact that as much as her stubborn nature denied, Astra wanted to talk to Misako. To find out if it was true, and if it wasn’t, she could move on with her life. But deep down, she knew she was Garmadon’s daughter. And it wasn’t because of the birth certificate, or his words, or Lloyd’s insistence, it was because of what Cassie had said.

_ Astra, did Garmadon ever tell you exactly where you got your powers from? _

Elemental powers were genetic, she knew that much. Alongside their physical and elemental training, they’d been instructed to learn about the elemental influence on prior wars in history. Astra had found a book detailing the natural occurrence of elements. Those which appeared of no accord were not uncommon, but usually fell under jurisdiction of a major element a distant relative possessed. However distant it was, they were related and the element was always born into a different family member. The book barely covered the darker elements - glossing over Destruction, but mentioning a single record of Death. It fell under Destruction and apparently there was a scroll on it.

That explained the tug to Garmadon’s power, the similarity in colour but not shade, the dark and dreary nature of their elements. The calmness when she’d exploded the very first time, his invulnerability to her decaying globes of power that she’d thrown at him in endless rage after everyone around her had suffered. The thing that she was proud of, even, was because of Garmadon.

Misako would just be confirming it. Astra sighed, paused to shake a handful of flour over the bread dough, and kneaded it rhythmically. Once it was at the perfect texture and yield, she placed it in an oiled bowl and draped a kitchen cloth over the top so it could rest again. She glanced to the clock and set a timer on her watch before washing her hands and taking off her apron.

_ Might as well... _ Squaring her shoulders in mock confidence, Astra walked out of the kitchen and headed for the library. The Sons of Garmadon had established this HQ many years ago, apparently, since their book collection dated back thousands upon thousands of years. Astra had only been in the library once or twice, but it was clear the reading space wasn’t just for research.

It was a strangely comforting place that radiated the classic dark academia vibe. Dark oak walls, polished to a gleaming shine under the iron-wrought lanterns that were on the end of every bookcase. There were rows and rows of books all shelved neatly and a cart at the end of the shelves for books to be returned. At the very end of the library was a gigantic reading space with a roaring fire and plush armchairs.

Astra had to ask around for Misako. She found her in a shadowy aisle juggling a stack of heavy tomes on pyramids or something and offered to help cautiously. Misako appeared to be just as wary of Astra as she was of her, and directed them to a lone table that was already piled high with books, scrolls and ink strewn across the surface in a chaotic mess of self organisation.

Astra set the books down and grimaced inside. “I’m, um, sorry about what I said when I first met you.”

“It’s quite alright,” Misako murmured. She spread a map over the table and held down the corners and sides with more books. “It must have been a shock for you, I expect.”

“Yeah...well it was pretty shitt— _ crappy  _ of me to act like that.” She rubbed the back of her neck nervously and watched as Misako sketched the outline of a map on a copy of translucent paper.

“What has Monty told you about...us?”

“Not much. Just that I’m Lloyd’s twin and my powers are from Garmadon.”

Misako chuckled. “He was never one for stories or details unless necessary. He’s a very serious man, Astra, but he is loyal to those he loves.”

“Can you tell me more? About why I didn’t grow up with you, I mean.”

Misako looked at Astra, and suddenly all the wrinkles of wiseness and deep thought appeared to be of time and age. “When you were barely a year old, Monty realised the amount of enemies he’d made. He wanted you, Lloyd and I to move underground, here, specifically, to be safe. It was a horrible, horrible argument. I didn’t want you growing up underground, he wanted to keep you safe. We were distracted. The safehouse had been compromised and some Serpentine members made it through our defences.”

Astra fell silent and fiddled with a scrap of parchment, scrunching it up and smoothing it out.

“I only found Lloyd in his crib, you’d either escaped or someone had taken you. It was the latter. Afterwards, I found out Garmadon had taken you with him when he ran and left me with Lloyd. When I contacted him afterwards, he refused to tell me where you were. He just said you were safe.”

It was easy enough to connect the pieces. Garmadon had run with her, dropped her off with a random family without a care in the world and forgotten about her until she’d shown up with a broken leg. Hadn’t even told her. Maybe he was scared she’d react the exact way she had.

“I wasn’t safe.” Astra said softly. “The Harlows are horrible. I hate them.”

“Hate is a strong word—”

“I  _ hate  _ them.” 

Misako went quiet. “I’m going to speak to Monty about this. Lloyd and I are having dinner later, would you like to join us?”

“I have another elemental master to pick up, sorry. Maybe another time?”

“Of course, whatever works for you.”

“Thanks, uh, Misako.”

“Anytime, dear.”

o o o

The new elemental master Astra was ordered to bring back was Rema Barron - Kade’s cousin. She’d been hiding out in her home village, and with their intel Astra had found her easily. Arsyn and Maul had accompanied her to retrieve Rema. While the new emperor hadn’t publicly called out Rema like he had done to the Hunted Seven, it was safe to assume all elemental masters were in danger. 

Rema’s home village seemed to specialise in sunflowers and the trades that came from that - flower shops, sunflower oil, birdfeed and snacks. Rema was behind a small shop that was built into the lower floor of a two story building. Astra assumed the top floor was living quarters for Rema and her mother, the small overhanging windows boasting cheerful flower boxes filled with sunflowers.

“Rema!” Astra grinned, shading her eyes from the blaring sun. “How're you doing?”

“Pretty good,” Rema cast a suspicious look at Arsyn and Maul dressed in normal clothes behind her. “New friends?”

“Yeah,” she shrugged, coughing into her fist. “How much is that tote bag?”

Astra pointed to a canvas tote bag with a large intricate sunflower embroidered on the front.

“Fifteen dollars.”

Astra nodded and handed over money. The code sequence had been completed. Rema began packaging the bag in a thin sheet of crepe paper with a hand drawn sunflowers pattern printed on it, and folded it in half to place it in a recyclable bag along with a business card.  _ Sunny Crafts _ . Arsyn purchased a wallet and Maul asked for an item that didn’t exist. Rema pretended to argue with Maul and then beckoned them inside to look at the ‘back stock’.

“Are we leaving now?” Rema’s mother fiddled with a needle from her relaxed position on the couch. Their bags were by the back door. “I’ll have to close up the shop and put up a notice for our regulars.”

“Now is probably a good idea.” Arsyn agreed with Maul. “We’ll take your bags to the car while you close up.”

“Rema, can you go out there and tell the customers we’ve got to go? You know what to say.”

“Sure.” Rema left the front room with a poster about their absence notice to put up. Rema’s mother was already heading for the car with Maul and Arsyn trailing behind with the bags. When Rema came back, her mouth was turned upside down in a frown as she heaved a sigh.

“It’s not an ideal situation,” Astra said in an awkward attempt at comforting her friend. “Don’t worry about your safety.”

“I’m not worried about mine. I trust you and Kade. I’m worried about Dean and Zi.”

“Are they elemental masters too?”

“No. But they’re my friends, and I care about them. I know they won’t be targeted but...a lot of people have fallen for Wu’s act since they don’t know the truth. I know they see through his bullshit. But I’m still worried.”

“That’s to be expected,” Astra shrugged, gently pushing Rema towards the car parked a few buildings away for secrecy. “Well, you won’t be alone. Zander and Bells are there as well.”

“Really?” Rema’s eyebrows shot up. They crossed the street and ducked into the car. Arsyn and Maul were up front, with Rema’s mother, Rema, and Astra in the second row and the bags in the boot. Astra nodded, feeling a bit more relaxed now they had Rema with them.

The ride back went off without a hitch. They drove onto the gigantic circle of earth that was cleverly hidden amongst the rocky surface and descended on the giant transport elevator into the cavern below where all the vehicles were. Rema audibly gasped when she saw the sheer number of bikes, cars, trucks and even helicopters parked underground.

“How do you have the funds for this?”

“The supermarket chain Masters is the Sons of Garmadon’s...front, you could say. Whatever profit we earn from there is cycled back through us.”

“We’ve been supporting a biker gang?” Rema’s mother, Ruth, gasped in horror.

“Well it’s for a good cause.” Astra butted in quickly with a nervous chuckle. “I’ll take you to your quarters. Rem, you’ll be sharing with me and the other girls, and Mrs Barron, you’ll be in the parents corridor.”

“That sounds lovely, dear.” Ruth said gratefully, although she still did look a bit shocked finding out the Barrons were helping fund a crime gang.

Arsyn handed Rema her bags and then left to guide Mrs Barron to her room in the parents sector. At the moment, it was only Misako but they were expecting the Walkers and the Juliens to arrive soon as well. Rema was silent as Astra gave a quick explanation of the SOG base and the rooms they passed en route to the dorms. Only Bella was there when Rema dropped her stuff off and the two hugged as Bells gave Rema a quick interrogation into her powers.

Within a few seconds of the vague explanation - Rema didn’t know much about her powers either, Bells already had a rough sketch for Rema’s suit. And by suit, Astra meant what they fought in. Jay wanted to call it a ninja gi but Garmadon maintained they were not ninja. For now, at least. Apparently Jay had a presentation in the making. Astra let Rema settle in a bit, sprawled over the couch as her friend put her things away. 

Rema took the spare bed on the side opposite from Astra where Nya and Bells slept, drawing the  curtains around her for privacy as she organised everything. Her watch vibrated just as she was debating whether or not to see what Kade was doing (for no particular reason she just wanted to hang out with a friend yes that was it).

_ The Lord had requested you bring Rema Barron to the War Room — Notia _

Notia was one of the admins who relayed messages and information all around the SOG web for other people when normal messages didn’t or couldn’t apply. She normally was the messenger for important notices, and a new elemental master was pretty important.

Astra stood and brushed a loose hair from her eyes.

“Rem, let’s go. The Lord wants to meet you.”

—

**A/N: First chapter done! Ok this first proper chapter is dedicated della and iva since i’ve endured so much yelling and screaming. Reminder that Rema is the very pog Iva‘s OC along with Zi and Dean :). She was mentioned in the last book a bit as well in case you missed that. I am absolutely zapped of energy right now and mildly pissed at my mum but y’know that’s family.**

**This chapter’s song is ‘Forever’ by Labrinth for not particular reason I just like it**

**This chapter’s Q is: What is the best way to spend a rainy day?**

**My A: Reading, writing, watching a movie with a buttload of popcorn or hot chocolate!**

**Merry Christmas!**

**-dommie out**


	5. [2] no i do not mean Sims 3 or 4, yes, i am sure of that

**jay**

“Alright, so I think if we add that image of us looking super cool in the lower corner, Garmadon will totally get the vibe.” Jay crossed his arms triumphantly as he waited for Cole, Kai, and Zander’s opinions.

“I...sure, I guess.” Zander offered skeptically. 

Jay’s excited expression fell. “You don’t think that will convince him?”

“Well...er, maybe?” Cole chimed in unhelpfully. 

“You don’t think it’s going to work.” He said flatly, shutting down the presentation with a sigh.

“I mean...um, maybe?” Kai muttered, wincing as he shifted upwards on the couch. “I don’t think this is what we should be focusing on.”

“Well, Annabella agrees with me. Style  _ and  _ function. C’mon, you can’t deny we’d look sick in ninja gi’s.”

“Yeah, but I have other things to do.” Kai continued hotly. “More important things, like finding Harumi and making her pay.”

Jay frowned. Kai spoke an awful lot about Harumi and getting revenge on Harumi. He didn’t really understand, but their situation was personal. Harumi had made it personal. Shrugging, Jay shut his laptop and felt the hum of electricity under his finger tips. He cursed inwardly as he pulled a thin set of gloves onto his hands, and then put the laptop away. 

The fabric was the same electricity resist material the Sons of Garmadon had worn into battle. Annabella and the tech department worked together to give him gloves that would stop him from overloading any electrical source just by touch. He’d wear them until he had full control of his powers, he was convinced. He drew in a slightly raspy breath and frowned again as he glanced at his SOG-issued watch. Cole, Kai and Zander did the same.

_ War Room. Now — Notia _

“We better get there then,” Zander said, opening the door for everyone with a flourish. “Before Garmadon throws a hissy fit. After you.”

The small group quickly made their way towards the war room, easily finding their way through the furnished catacombs after being stuck in there for so long. They stopped outside the door, the double guards posted there grunting simultaneously before letting them in. Jay took his normal seat at the table beside Nya. The girls were already there but there was one more girl than Jay remembered.

Jay didn’t want to make anyone feel less superior, but Garmadon insisted stubbornly that the elementals and his chosen war council be the only ones seated at the table. Zander, Bells and Pixal were sitting in the corners for a better view from behind like other SOG agents. Jay shot Nya a quick smile which she returned softly, squeezing his hand under the table.

Everyone was still shuffling and having low conversations when Garmadon walked in, nodding to an agent as he walked by. The agent began distributing packets of paperwork and documents to the people around the table. Jay looked up and down the table discreetly and realised the table had been lengthened to accommodate even more people. He spotted Misako sitting on the SOG side and couldn’t help the flash of confusion that took over his face.

Garmadon waited quietly for everyone to shut up, which happened quickly after he shuffled a few papers unnecessarily. Astra  _ Garmadon  _ (Jay still couldn’t believe it, and it was pretty clear she didn’t either, though she did look a bit more accepting as she glared a less harsh glare than normal at Lloyd from across the table) huffed to herself and nodded to the new girl across the table. Jay thought she had very blonde hair and seemed vaguely familiar.

“Roll call, Thorn.” Garmadon ordered, flicking through the packet.

Thorn, a senior SOG member who taught a few of them special skills went through the roll call quickly. Garmadon nodded to himself and then opened to the first paper of the booklet. Everyone quickly followed to do the same and Jay scanned the words before him.

  1. _Current Status of New Era_
  2. _Reconstruction Efforts/Concerns_
  3. _Myths and Legends_
  4. _Introduction of Sim_
  5. _Elemental Training_



Some of the stuff made sense - but the lines like  _ Introduction of Sim  _ and  _ Myths and Legends  _ seemed a bit out of place. 

“My brother has made it painstakingly clear that he wishes to capture the Hunted Seven,” Garmadon jumped right in, referring to the media’s name for Jay and his friends. “The situation would not be so complicated if I had been informed months ago that we intended to harbour hunted criminals.” The Lord shot a glare at Astra that was unnervingly similar to the girl’s - to his daughter’s, explanatorily. 

Jay thought it was a bit rich, coming from the leader of a biker gang.

“However, we do have the upper hand in some sense. The public is fully under Wu’s thumb and believes that elemental masters are indeed dangerous and to be feared. We fed this belief, simply because it is true. We are dangerous if our power is in the wrong hands.” A grim smile twisted his lips.

“Ironically, Wu has said the same about us. He abuses our father’s legacy to gain royal power and proceeds to blame a string of murders on us to achieve mayor status. All in all, a good day’s work for an Emperor. The scheming, conniving little bastard. The New Era is well underway, with about ninety-seven percent of the city rebuilt. Wu holds a firm hand on the people. He rules with an iron fist of fear and trust of the people, which will be useful to us.”

Jay wasn’t sure how this helped. Everything that was coming from Garmadon’s mouth seemed to be in Wu’s favour rather than theirs, yet he still said they had some sort of upper hand. If there was one, Jay wanted to know what it was.

“Alongside this reconstruction, I have received word from our intel that Wu has begun reconstructing some older buildings. Specifically, he has begun rebuilding temples for the Seven Gods.” Garmadon chuckled darkly at the majority of the table’s confusion. Including Jay.

“This is where the Myths and Legends part comes in. Notia’s team has organised all the information on the table of contents and you can find more when you look through the packet. I doubt any of you have heard of the Seven Gods, excluding Misako. Say hello to Misako, council.” 

The council awkwardly said hello, and Misako awkwardly waved in return.

“The Seven Deities are very old legends which are very much true. For example, you all know of my father, the First Spinjitzu Master. He is one of the Seven Deities - the youngest of them, actually. Some refer to them at the Old Gods, but there are no  _ new  _ deities. There are younger gods that are not of the Seven, but the Seven Deities are the main gods.”

Jay’s head was spinning with this new information. Gods? Deities? Legends?

“I’ll let Misako take over.” 

Misako cleared her throat and pulled a bit at the green scarf wound around her neck. 

“The Seven Deities were lost to the public a long time ago - a vague date would be after the death of the First Spinjitzu Master. It is important to note that he did not actually die. Deities cannot  _ die  _ literally, but they can be reduced to atoms that have to re-bind themselves over the course of thousands of years. Other gods may communicate with them, but while dissociated they have no physical presence. There is some science to every tangible legend.”

Misako smiled demurely, looking ten times more relaxed now she was in her comfort zone. History, and stuff. Yep.

“However, this doesn’t even apply to the First Spinjitzu Master. What he had on Ninjago was his mortal body — simply, a part of his conscience that was on Ninjago. He is the youngest of his brothers and sisters, the oldest being the twin gods Dragon and Oni. We don’t exactly know when the Great Devourer rose, but the snake deity is mainly worshipped by the Serpentine, more than we do.”

“The Serpentine are  _ real _ ?” Kai wheezed, and not in a laughing way. “My brain can’t handle this.”

“Not many can,” Misako chuckled, “But it is essential. That is four of the Seven Deities now. The other three; the deity of Death, wealth and riches, Mortiae, the deity of luck, harvest, and the plenty, Naroine, and the deity of war, hunt, and strategy, Krayne.”

Jay’s mouth fell open as his wild imagination conjured up the image of the Seven Deities in his mind. Definitely huge, maybe shimmery? Did they wear fancy robes? Did they look human, or exactly as described? A serpent, Dragon, and  _ Oni _ ? Then Mortiae, Naroine, and Krayne. Maybe they were more humane.

“These gods are interpreted differently in many worlds, but we see them as the creators of this universe.”

“ _ Worlds? _ ” Annabella asked in slight suspicion. Jay found the stylist to have an unsettling ability to ask all the questions they were thinking without asking them.

“Yes, worlds. Our universe is humongous and we have barely explored it. I have it on good accord that scientists at NSA are investigating the theory of a multiverse.”

“Wait, so there could be a universe where Wu isn’t evil? Where it’s Garmadon? No offense, Lord.” Jay gasped, his Donnegan dreams crashing together. A  _ multiverse _ . That would be insanely cool - he couldn’t even imagine meeting all the different Jays out there. Would they all like blue? Would they all have an insanely big crush on Nya?

“That is a possibility. If the multiverse theory is confirmed. But the point I’m trying to make is that the gods are seen differently, but they are sentient beings that have powers beyond our abilities. Yes, even beyond elemental masters. In fact, the very first elementals of your powers are actually immortal — not deities, but immortal, and live with the gods. They choose which members of your family are honoured with elemental powers.”

_ Honoured. _

“Wait, Adira is still alive?” Cole looked surprised and if anything a little relieved.

Misako nodded. “Her spirit is alive, immortal with the gods.”

“What does this have to do with the temples? Why are they being reconstructed?” Astra steered the conversation back on topic. “What is Wu planning?”

“The temples for the Seven Gods were left in a state of disrepair and are derelict monuments of the gods. We believe Wu’s next projects to rehabilitate the temples are an attempt to communicate the Seven Gods.” Garmadon jumped in, sighing. “My brother has always had an infatuation with the Seven Gods — he spent many of his younger years researching about them when no one cared. I was more concerned with other subjects than gods. I was content to leave divine beings alone, but Wu has always had a habit of sticking his nose in places where it does not belong.”

“Wu’s trying to contact the gods? Your father, maybe?” Astra took a guess, and most of the war council nodded in agreement.

“Your grandfather cut all ties with us after his mortal body died. My brother has — is still obsessed, apparently with the gods. As the sons of the First Spinjitzu Master, Wu and I are only half god, if that makes sense. When my father...had us, we were a split of his abilities, so the divine conscience in his mortal body gave half of the ‘god’ to me, and half to Wu. And, if anything, Wu hated imbalance, he constantly mentioned how he hated being a  _ half-thing.  _ His words, not mine. Things had to be equal, symmetrical, perfect. He wants to be on equal footing with the Seven Deities.”

“So he’s trying to get in contact with grand — your father to...become a god?” Astra said in confusion as Jay picked up the pieces. “Is there any other way he can do that, besides from trying to negotiate?”

_ Wu wants to become a god. Not a half-thing, a full god with total power. He wants divine status that he believes should be given to him by birthright. And he can either ask for the power, or he has to get his other half ‘back’ which means— _

“The other way,” Garmadon said slowly, as if it pained him. “Is if Wu kills me.”

**zane**

“There would be a complicated ritual of course — the process of harvesting another’s power has only been done successfully once before.” Garmadon chuckled. “He will keep it in mind but it will go to too much trouble for Wu when he can appeal straight to the deities. I’m not that easy to kill, contrary to popular belief.”

Zane worked quickly to store all of this information in his systems, and by the slight glazing in Pixal’s eyes she was doing the same. They knew a lot, it was just a matter of figuring out what pieces Wu was playing before he actually played them. Zane wondered if the temples were connected in a way that would allow Wu to contact the gods. If that even was possible. He was still a bit skeptical looking at the whole thing.

“If we can get to the temples before Wu finishes restoring them and ambush them, covertly of course, could we contact the gods before Wu does?” Destroyer, slightly muffled through bandages, managed to cock her head inquisitively. 

Misako bobbed her head but also made a screwed up face which Zane took to mean  _ sort of  _ as she drew arrows on a projected map that was on the table. Connecting seven circled areas dotted around Ninjago. 

“These are the main temples activity has been sighted at. They are good points for praying and sending sacrifices such as food, animals, and personal belongings to the Gods, but the actual way I believe Wu is going to send a message is through the Golden Weapons, and in turn, the Blade Portal.”

_ The Golden Weapons. The Blade Portal.  _

The names brought no connection to Zane.

“Blade...Portal?”

“A portal created with the Golden Weapons of Creation that opens a temporary rift between our world and the divine plane. What we think Wu is going to use, since it is, sort of, easier than adding another kill to his list.” Misako explained this quickly, glancing at the SOG agents. “There will be a separate meeting for the Hunted Seven and some others tonight.”

Zane stored that information away, already thinking ahead for the meeting. Why was Misako so cautious around the SOG members? Did she not trust them? Additionally, there was the information classified for the Hunted Seven, and ‘some others’, who Zane could take a good guess at. Good enough he’d be willing to bet on it. And Zane didn’t believe in gambling unless he was going to win.

Garmadon cleared his throat. “That’s a lot of information to take in. As I’ve said before, please review the information in the packets. I will not be repeating this essential session again. Moving on to our fifth objective, concerning the  _ Introduction to Sim _ training. Valley, Destroyer.”

Troya, from underneath a shadowy hood, leant forwards slightly. The fabric of her last layers of bandages stuck out slightly and Zane couldn’t help but wince as he automatically ran a scan over Astra’s...relative. Foster sister.

It had become a habit for Zane to scan anyone who walked near him for signs of injuries. Since living underground with a criminal gang as a wanted criminal, he began to process medical training into his database whilst also interning under Joker in the Medwing. The grumpy GP was a good teacher however grudging he was. Destroyer was on the last weeks of her bandages and salve, as far as Zane knew. 

Kade Gorski was dealing with that since it was elemental fire, and he was being guided by Obliterate - their semi-specialist in elemental masters who was delighted to have more information and subjects. Zane was perfectly fine under Joker, although he did sometimes wonder if the doctor would just up and leave after the teenagers tumbled into the Medwing with a thousand and one injuries to deal with.

“Sim training has been in prototype for a few weeks now with the assistance of Titanium as our elemental guinea pig. The Simulator, or Sim, is a combined effort between the tech and combat departments to provide a stimulated, controlled environment for our elemental task force to train in. The training hall doesn’t...cater, let’s say, to the needs for training. Titanium has been helping us out with testing and the Lord has also been assisting us with ideas for Sims.” Valley finished with a proud grin and Zane nodded, impressed. 

Although it wasn’t an original idea, per se, Zane was sure this would help them bring their powers to a new level of control.

“First session will be right after this meeting, actually. The Hunted Seven, Aslec, Titanium and Reaper will report to the Sim.” Troya flexed her fingers, the tightly wrapped bandages moving slightly. The bandages gave her a slightly skeletal look, Zane thought. 

“Oh, and Hunted Seven, after that, you’ll be choosing your new names. When you go out for missions, we aren’t risking an operation because they found out some idiot named Kai Smith decided to tag along.” Destroyer might have grinned, he guessed, underneath the wraps and the hood. 

Zane contemplated this new information. The name choosing was symbolic and pragmatic, but Zane was somewhat worried over the fact that this would be more meaningful than ever. They were properly associating themselves with the Sons of Garmadon rather than just accepting their refuge. But that refuge had extended to friendships within the SOG, training, living with them and helping them.

It was like a big family, the Sons of Garmadon. And the Hunted Seven were new kids to them, dangerous, but they had to stay. They had to work with them to keep each other alive, and Zane wasn’t sure how long they would last before someone snapped.

He knew it would be illogical to have his codename relating to ice, although it was tempting, if someone tapped into the SOG lines and heard ‘ _ Snowstorm _ ’ or something, it would be a dead giveaway. Maybe something relating to his personal life that no one would question. Whatever it was, Zane was excited to see what the Simulator added to their training.

He’d never really stop worrying, really, until his father and Evan were with him. So he could protect them from Wu, protect them from Wu because of what  _ he _ was _. _

—

**A/N: Well the plot is moving faster than mos that’s for sure. ANYWAYS, I’m really enjoying all the god/deity stuff and I just wanted to ask if the information dump was okay? Or was it too much? I also discovered the face to face school is starting again at home and I just — the cases are climbing, but sure, let’s do that *insert a very strained smile***

**This chapter’s song is ‘A Little Death’ by The Neighbourhood**

**This chapter’s Q is: Did you see the Vengestone/Amnestone twist in mos coming?**

**My A: well i wrote it so —**

**-dommie out**


	6. [3] is being called fuego a crime? lmk

**astra**

Her jaw dropped open as she stepped into the gigantic cavern, and might have stayed open if she hadn’t seen Garmadon standing in the corner. 

_ The Simulator. _

An enhanced, controlled, training experience for elementals.

How original.

The excavated space didn’t look at all special. In fact, it was less developed than normal areas of the converted labyrinth. The walls weren’t slick with special white panels, there weren’t training mats or tools underneath. She spied a small cupboard built into the wall behind Garmadon’s casual slouch and glanced at the others.

Zane and Pixal looked like their birthdays had come early. Their eyes were a little glazed over and moved slowly as they scanned the room. Most likely with their robotic sensors or something. They creeped her out a little, she wasn’t going to lie. Kai, supported by a crutch he didn’t need but used for show, didn’t look very amazed. He seemed to be defiant to accepting help from the SOG and only did so because he would have died without it. Skylor’s face was screwed up in confusion.

She was thinking the same thing as all of them.

_ How is this a simulator? _

Nya and Jay were looking at this as inventors, but as much confusion as everyone else. Jay was the more...imaginative one out of the unlikely couple (or couple to be, honestly, they were both blind), and Nya was slightly more logical. That assumption was riding on the terms of their escapade from the Woodlands and the hallucinatory behaviour afterwards.

Cole and Lloyd didn’t have much of a reaction apart from confusion and an expression that looked like they wanted to climb the walls. Cole, probably because he saw the craggly cave as a challenge to an experienced climber, and Lloyd because he wanted something to do. Because he got bored easily, and so did Astra.

“Welcome to the Sim,” Valley smiled, slinging an arm over Troya’s shoulders. “Basically our baby, by this point.”

Cassie choked, hard, on her hotdog and spluttered as Maya grinned.

“Although it doesn’t look like much now,” Astra coughed out a strangled scoff as Lloyd bounced around them gleefully.  _ I can hold out until I win. I have the willpower not to sock Smith, who is currently lying on the ground in ‘pain’.  _

“Trust me, the Sim  _ will  _ beat you black and blue. We didn’t go easy on this thing. Titanium can attest to that.” Valley nodded to Duckman, who grinned, sporting a black eye Astra hadn’t known the background off. Kade looked like he was itching to heal it and the long slash on Astra’s arm from a training that morning. She declined in favour of good old fashioned healing.

“Alright, since you think this is so funny, step up Reaper.” Cassie cocked her head with a smirk that Astra would willingly bet was hidden under the bandages. She glared at Troya, certain to keep her internal silent grudge against her going.

For seven months, Cassandra Harlow had kept Astra’s ancestry from her. Neither of them wanted to apologise to each other. Astra didn't see why she should need to apologise when it was Cass who had been keeping something huge from her. Astra stepped up to the black spot where Valley was pointing to and accepted a new earpiece that hooked around her right ear.

She hissed as a shock teased her ear. She blinked, and then the world around her span into a new landscape. Immediately, her hand dropped to the dagger that would usually be by her ankle, but had been taken off on order from the Maya. Astra had trusted Maya fully and now was beginning to regret it. The cavern had been turned into a jungle with vines and trees drooping all over the place in exotic greens and purples.

Taking a cautious step forwards, Astra’s world toppled again as she opened her eyes to a snowy biome. The chill hit her like a truck and her teeth chattered against mental restraint.

_ Illusionary, but also real technology? What? _

The snowy landscape seemed to stretch from miles on end, and in taking a few experimental steps forward, Astra found that the ground below her was definitely snow as her shoes sank into the fresh layer blanketing the top. She now recognised the slight buzz from the shock on her ear and realised it was sort of connected to the shock bracelets they’d used in the City’s Purge. 

Now she was in some sewers, exactly like the ones underground Ninjago City. Her body stilled as she heard scratching around the bend, waiting for the sloshing of water to stop. It sounded like two or more humans by the patterning, and she wasn’t sure if she could take on two people without weapons. Keeping to the shadows like a secret agent, Astra waited with bated breath as two of the Emperor’s Legion rounded the bend.

“Who’s there?” One of them barked, hand on their sword. Astra frowned to herself. There shouldn’t be any way they could see her, unless they already knew she’d be there. A trap.

Biting down on a snarky response, Astra turned away slightly so she could look over her shoulder but conceal the glowing ball of Death forming in her hands. She poured a whirlwind of negative emotions into it and hoped the decaying effect would last long enough for her to disarm them and gain some leverage. 

“We know you’re there, Garmadon scum. Submit to the Emperor’s Legion or suffer the consequences.” Ordered the other person, their voice deep and scratchy. She rolled her eyes and concentrated on splitting the orb into two spheres.

Their swords screeched against the metal sheaths as they drew them, leaving Astra with barely enough time to jump out of the shadows and send the orbs on their weaving, distracting paths to slam straight into their chests. Soldier No. 1 shrieked and scrabbled at his chest as her power ate through his padded armour, clothes and eventually at his skin. 

No. 2 seemed to be less affected and managed to stumble towards her, clawing at his chest to counter the pain. Astra drew a calming breath in and then spun into a practiced back kick, the sole of her feet pushing him back a few steps. While his hands were occupied with his decaying chest, Astra punched him in the face and yanked the sword out of his grip. Not the most efficient way, but now she had a weapon. 

No.1 screamed again as his chest caved in and Astra quickly looked away, deciding to disarm and knock out No. 2. She couldn't stomach the sight of another guy having his stomach eaten out by her power. No.2 regained his balance and was sweating heavily from the pain, yet he still blundered forwards blindly.

Troya, Riptide and all of her instructor’s voices barked their training in her head as she simply stepped aside and whacked the hilt of her borrowed katana over the back of his head. His eyes rolled back and he slumped to the grimy sewer floor with a  _ thump.  _ Astra grinned to herself, cautiously nudged No.1 as he sucked in weak breathes and called out to no one in particular;

“Are we done yet?”

The shock came again, spinning her back into the big cavern. Astra took a look around and didn’t see 1 or 2 and raised a brow, impressed. This was some high tech stuff, and she could definitely see the Sim being useful in the future. She made a show of dusting off her hands and grinned at her comrades.

“Bloody hell, you looked  _ so  _ stupid. What were you doing?” Cole laughed, Jay wheezing slightly alongside him. Her grin dropped instantly, switching to a flat out glower that silenced both boys. Astra deduced that they’d all just seen her fight two invisible strangers with no context whatsoever and she was about to hit Cassie with a bat.

Rounding on her sister and her girlfriend, Astra restrained the urge to shriek. “You didn’t let them see what was going on?”

Maya shrugged. “Only you had the SimPiece on, Rea. Now come on, we want to give the others a spin before the Lord starts the elemental meeting.”

Astra’s gaze flitted around the room and she realised Garmadon had left. Brow furrowed in slight  _ feeling _ , she didn’t know what, she grudgingly helped explain to Cole and Jay what they were about to experience. She may have left the bit about the electric shocks that would help connect the tech to their brains out. When Jay yelped as his lightning powers overloaded the shock, she didn’t feel an ounce of pity. Maybe a little.

The elementals, along with Cass and Maya, didn’t have to take part in a short ambush like Astra had, rather a short stroll through the arctic landscape Astra had previously visited. Not at all prepared, the elementals were thrown into yet  _ another  _ impromptu task that the SOG trainers were constantly giving them. Zane had some leverage with chunky bits of snow and ice that he managed to harshen the blow of when it was hurtling at their faces.

Kai, helped by Skylor who had slowly begun using his powers, kept small flames in the middle of the group for some warmth. Of course, Cassie and Maya had puffy jackets that had miraculously appeared right before they spun into the cold atmosphere. Astra shivered slightly and kept marching with the others as Maya, who seemed to be the leader of the operation, explained more of the Simulator’s capabilities.

“The Simulator is revolutionary technology I’ve been developing for a while. Originally, it was designed for normal training experiences, but in the past few months, ever since Rea arrived and our elemental numbers shot up, I’ve been making alterations to the Sim. As demonstrated with Reaper, to the outside eye it appears like someone is fighting an invisible opponent.” 

Maya tapped on her SimPiece and everyone received a shock at the same time. “It’s highly advanced neurotechnology that is similar to the neuroshocks we’ve used before. It doesn’t harm you, don’t worry. The floor of the Sim is actually a hidden treadmill, so while you feel like we’ve been walking forever through snow it’s just your brain and the floor moving beneath you. Just keep in mind that despite all of this, you really need to believe it so it becomes a fully-enhanced training experience”

“We’ve got loads of training courses and situations like the one Astra just went through designed for different numbers of people training, elemental abilities, and so on. Val has also insisted on monitoring your health levels and all that physical stuff so Obi will be coming in now and again as our leading elemental healer. Aside from Kade, of course.” Troya dusted off her hands and nodded to Maya. 

Astra braced herself for the shock and was pleased to find the effects were beginning to grow redundant, whereas the others were still adjusting to the sudden jolt of pain. She rolled her shoulders as everyone adjusted back to the normal status of the Sim. Cassie drew Maya aside to have a whispered conversation, pressing a light kiss to the hacker’s temple. Maya blushed and then jerked her head towards the cluster of unobservant elementals, speaking fast.

Her gaze flicked back to everyone else. They were raving about the Sim, already gathering theories and hypothetical events they planned for Pixal and Zane to implement into the Sim. Rema looked a little left out, but Kade beckoned her into conversation and she seemed to be more comfortable with a relative introducing her.

“Arlight, alright, shut up. We’re going to be running through a quick exercise before the meeting, so everyone get ready. No elemental powers for this one, let’s just see how it goes, yeah?” Troya cleared her throat, and their worlds spun as one.

Astra quickly realised that this was a mirror image of Ninjago City right now. A paper thin illusion of the perfect life under Wu’s rule. People were milling about, browsing at the stalls in the market and bartering with shopkeepers. She stepped forwards with the crowd and mingled with the buyers, occasionally stopping at a stall to examine it’s sale.

_ You really need to believe it. _

Slowly, everyone else relaxed from their tense illusionary journey and copied Astra as well as they could. Cole and Titanium stuck to the food stalls, whilst Rema and Lloyd gravitated over to some of the art supplies. Nya and Kai were looking at some stones, Cole and Zane at some poetry and Jay was about to pay for some ridiculous looking invention when they heard the roar of motorbikes and immediately fell back into defensive positions.

Rounding the corner into the small street market was a squad of Serpentine, all from the Venomari section of the gang. The elementals hesitated slightly, looking back to Cassie and Maya for guidance. They both shrugged and gestured vaguely to the weapons one of the stalls had been selling before slinking back into the shadows. 

It was  _ convenient  _ that all of their assigned weapons were cluttered on the table. Cole’s hands found a war scythe, Jay’s, nunchucks, and Astra was glad to see a katana. Kai stood a few paces back, loosely holding a katana as well. Although he was doing better, having him in the fight raised the risk of him doing fatal damage to himself. Astra and Titanium formed the first double rank, with Pixal and Cole, Zane and Lloyd, Skylor and Nya, Jay and Kade and finally Rema and Kai at the back.

The twelve of them shuffled into the six ranks, weapons in hand as the Venomari fanned out. Astra counted roughly fifteen, leaving them outnumbered. And Kai was basically out of commission, she had no idea if Rema could even fight, and they couldn’t use elemental powers.  _ Thanks, Troya.  _ The Venomari stepped forward, their swords and jagged daggers drawn. The metal barrel of a gun glinted under lantern light, belonging to the leader of course.

Astra glanced back to Cassie and Maya and made the decision.

“No elemental powers in bull— _ f _ — _ crap _ , okay? Cole, Zane, wall it. Pixal and Lloyd, watch their backs for the breakthrough. Fours, get up on those balconies. Avoid the one with the gun. Fives, stand ready with Sixes.” She rapped out the orders quickly, already feeling the adrenaline building up.

Whenever they practiced it was always in these ranks, which sometimes switched up, but this was the main pattern. Ranks of two, referring to a rank by their number. Rema would be filling in the odd number. Cole and Zane, covered by Pixal and Lloyd, began the wall of chunky ice and rock. Nya and Skylor scampered up the fire escape stairs to the balconies, Skylor having borrowed Nya’s water power.

Jay and Kade fell back to Kai and Rema to form the second frontal defense. Astra watched as their temporary wall began to shudder under the shoulder barrelling. 

“ _ How much longer do you need us to hold it, Reaper? _ ” Cole whispered into the comm on his left ear. 

“ _ On three, let it drop, Twos and Threes, advance. Ones will follow. _ ” Astra said decisively. “ _ One, two,  _ three _. _ ”

The wall crumbled, tripping the wall breakers as Twos and the Threes jumped forwards. Working in tandem, Cole and Pixal took on two of the Venomari. Lloyd, quick and intuitive, saw a third Venomari recover from her tumble and reach to take a dirty hit on Pixal. Lloyd launched himself forwards and tackled her, Zane blasting her ankles with weak shots of ice that held her for a second.

Having already used their powers to make the wall, Cole and Zane let Lloyd and Pixal handle the burden of the situation. Astra jerked her head to Titanium and they both jumped over the wall and she heard the familiar  _ thump  _ of his hammer rendering someone unconscious. Astra parried with her katana and swore as PG as she could at the clunky sword her opponent thrust for her stomach. Darting aside, she raised the pommel of her sword and slammed into the back of their head. They slumped to the ground.

Nya and Skylor were lobbing orbs of water down to cause confusion as practiced. Skylor was struggling with making larger ones so Astra shook her head at the redhead and mimed smaller ones. Jay’s shriek called her attention as four of the Venomari advanced. Titanium didn’t need prompting as they both ran towards the unfair fight. Rema glanced at Kai and then moved him behind her as she blocked a long dagger blade and locked it. 

There was no time to be impressed though. Kade seemed to be holding his own, although it didn’t help he was struggling with healing Jay’s now-sprained wrist and holding off his own opponent. Astra knew that without their elemental powers they would definitely have lost. Sometimes you had to ignore orders. Her sword jumped into front of the shortsword that aimed for Kade’s arm, but Kade shoved her aside, making the decision to stop healing Jay and continue his fight.

Astra’s lips curved into a small smile of pride or respect. She went to assist Jay, who cradled his wrist but fought determinedly one handed. That wasn’t too hard with nunchucks but he normally favoured using both hands and his attacker was nearly at Astra’s level of training. She cut at the sword and gave Jay time to roll out of the way, lightning sparking at his fingertips. 

She kept the Venomari distracted enough as he shocked them and bonked their head with the butt of his nunchucks to make sure they were fully out. Glancing around, Astra saw that the rest of the Serpentine squad had been taken care of. Skylor and Nya had come down to take care of the leader, Nya immobilising the bullets of his gun in a churn of water as Skylor knocked him out.

In all of their training, they’d always been told to disarm and discombobulate rather than kill.

“Pack it up.” Troya ordered, finally stepping forward. Her gaze darted from the slight blood splatters to the unconscious Venomari on the floor. Maya righted an overturned stall and everyone got the hint to start cleaning up. Sixes handled the important job of trussing up the Venomari, which Astra quickly doubled check and was satisfied to see tight knots from Kai and Rema.

Astra went to poke at one of the Venomari when her sister yanked her back, her face underneath probably quite cross from the way her bandages pulled.

“You ignored my orders.”

“If you wanted us to lose, I wouldn’t have.”

“I said  _ see how this goes _ . That could mean failing, running away, planning a rooftop assault and chase, it could mean a siege for all I care!” Cassie threw her hands up and groaned. “ _ Winning  _ is not the only thing that exists, okay, Rea?”

“Winning,” Astra hissed back, hackles up. “Is the way  _ we stay the hell _ alive.”

Maya dived in, ever the mediator, with apologetic glances to both, a stern raise of the eyebrows to her girlfriend and then backed away to let Astra continue clean up.

The blood was cleared away, the market was put back in place, goods on sale replaced and a sense of normalcy returned to the scene. Valley glanced at her watch and whispered to Destroyer. She whispered back, and without warning, sent them all out of the illusion and back into the real world. 

Her sister was obviously still pissed at her.

“Let’s go, meeting with Garmadon in five. Questions later, please.” Troya instructed, yanking the door open and shoving them all out.

o o o

They were all back in the War Room again, this time with the table shorter and the chairs spread out evenly. Astra sat next to Kade, who was drumming out some song on the table with his fingers. She drew up her knees to her chest as her pounding heart began slowing in her chest.  _ Because of the battle. Yes.  _ Fiddling with the cuff of her sleeve, she waited for everyone to hush. The Elemental Task Force, Obi, Troya and Valley were there alongside Garmadon. There was no packet and no business air to this meeting. Entirely casual.

“Let’s start with new codenames.” Garmadon ordered. Astra had gotten in the habit of being used to him jumping into anything without introduction. “We have Aslec, Titanium, Reaper and Junior already fitted. The rest of the Task Force may now choose.”

Aslec was Kade’s codename, and of course she was Reaper, Titanium was Titanium and Lloyd was Junior. Apparently the Lord had faith in her that she was going to win the easy bet. Everyone else was squirming a bit under Garmadon’s harsh expectant gaze. 

“I want to be called  _ Fuego _ ,” Kai declared, breaking the silence.

“That’s ridiculous,” Nya scoffed. “No one’s going to call you Fuego.”

“What, like they’re going to call you  _ Tsunami _ ? You can’t even make a tsunami, let alone—”

“I think Raven, for Nya.” Jay said quietly.

“Not Bluebird?” Astra arched a brow, trying to make the words come out in a less harsh manner. The sarcastic undertone didn’t really help though.

“Raven, cause her hair is the colour of a raven’s feather.”

Nya’s face turned bright red. “You can’t make that sort of decision for me.”

“Oh, uh, you don’t have to use it, it was just a suggestion,” Jay spluttered, his face blushed pink.

“No, no, I’m going to use it.” Nya said quickly. “Raven sounds good to me.”

“Then why can’t I be  _ Fueeeego _ ?” Kai whined. “I don’t want to be Porcupine or Hedgehog because you guys are just mean.”

“Arete,” Cole jumped in. At everyone’s confused expressions, he explained it was a term for climbing sheer faces at sharp angles. “What, I like climbing. Is it a crime?”

“Being named Fuego is,” Skylor grinned. 

Kai sighed dramatically. “I can’t take this abuse anymore.”

“Lato,” Zane put forwards for himself. 

“As in gelato?” Jay puzzled.

“Yes, it is very close to  _ ice  _ cream and is a dessert I enjoy for it’s increase in milk and decrease in cream.” Zane explained patiently. “I would have gone with something relating to my android nature, however I feel that would also be too obvious. I believe Pixal wanted to be…”

“Roiya. It’s etymological roots stem from another language, meaning  _ loyalty.  _ Many perceive one of the seven principles of a samurai as loyalty. I believe it is fitting.” Pixal’s green eyes flashed as Garmadon nodded. He pointed his pen like a sword at Skylor who leaned back and then stuttered;

“Bica. It’s short for a type of coffee my dad used to — um, drinks a lot.” 

Astra winced internally at the slight slip up. Skylor hadn’t been doing well whenever parents were mentioned. She only had her father, and even then he’d been taken by Wu and looked as if he had been driven insane.

“Rema? Are you comfortable with having a codename? You don’t necessarily need to be part of the task force, but it would be great help if you did.” Maya said kindly. “You’ve already experienced a small part of the resources we have on offer and the more elemental power, the better.”

Rema glanced around the table, then nodded. “I’ll go by Lotus. Thank you for, uh, taking me in Mr Garmadon.” The comment was directed to the Lord who shook himself out of a slight daze.

“I have no idea who you are, but alright, Master of….hmmm, interesting. I hope you use your power wisely, Lotus.”

Astra laughed inside a little at Rema’s confused expression, almost seeing the cogs turning in the girl’s mind. Garmadon had wanted to meet her, no? That’s what Astra had said earlier, anyway, but Garmadon always had a lofty air to him and knew the Task Force more by element than real name.

“Laserbeam? No, how about Razorcrest? Or, or, Bladeridge. Wait, they used that in the third movie,” Jay rambled, obviously thinking about Starfarer. “Lloyd, help me, I can’t decide.”

“Just use Fritz, man. Or—”

“Fritz it is! And Kai, you can deal with Forge. Your last name’s Smith, it’s perfect.” Cassie said, exasperated and done with the brainstorming. “Now can we get to the Blade Portal part?”

“Patience, Destroyer,” Garmadon grinned, knowing he held all the information. “I can’t tell you everything myself, as much as I would like to exploit my superior knowledge, there is one person who is even more of an expert in this. Oh, there she is. Misako, have a seat.”

—

**A/N: My god the amount of time it took me to come up with the codenames should be illegal my brain was so s l o w. Thanks to iva for helping me with a few and then laughing at my lack of productivity. I hope the scenes with the Sim were pretty clear about what it does in the future, and don’t worry, next chapter will be the last of the information dumps for a while (hopefully)**

**This chapter’s song is ‘my strange addiction’ by Billie Eilish**

**This chapter’s Q is: What would your codename with the SOG be?**

**My A: um, Clumsy? Jk, I have no idea because I’ve exhausted th e(nick)name generator in my head**

**-dommie out**


	7. [4] salty cousin has entered the chat

**nya**

She gave Misako a small smile as the older woman sat down next to her husband, sweat glistening on her forehead. Misako had been here for nearly a month at this point, yet Nya hadn’t spoken to her guardian in what felt like forever. Nya rolled her shoulders, feeling the familiar empty rush at her fingertips and the need to ignore it. It appeared to be a common after effect from using her powers, which, as built up as they were, still only managed to sputter out water in small amounts.

She’d feel like water was rushing to her fingers, and Nya knew there was nothing there yet her body was itching to command something.

“I’m well aware of your impatience, Troya, the Blade Portal is a major issue I believe we will have to counteract quickly. As mentioned before, it is made from the Four Golden Weapons, of which Ninjago was created with. Misako can explain more.” Garmadon handed the topic off easily and Misako instantly relaxed, like whenever Nya and Kai were younger and Misako would tell them tales about an explorer on wild adventures through the desert.

“The Golden Weapons were used to create Ninjago and wielded by the youngest of the Seven Deities, the First Spinjitzu Master. It’s a common base myth for some, but in simple explanation, the youngest god was given a sort of canvas to play with, and for millennia, he created Ninjago carefully, maturing and aging with knowledge until he finally descended. The tools he was given to carve out this world were gifted by his siblings, divine weapons of great power.” Misako looked out of place with a tablet in her hands instead of old parchment, swiping over holographic images of the Golden Weapons projected in the middle of the table.

“They are also known as the Weapons of Creation, giving them immense power. Because of it’s divine background, it served as a communication relay for the First Master to communicate with his family. The Blade Portal radiated immense power and attracted many of the greedy. However, to make such a portal, sacrifices must be made. Because the First Master was immortal  _ and  _ a god, he suffered no consequences. But if we are guessing at Wu’s plan, each of the weapons required to make the Blade Portal will need one human sacrifice. Per weapon.”

_ Four people to create the Portal? Is Wu really willing to make that sacrifice? _

“Okay, I know we’ve talked about this before, but can’t we just bait with Garmadon? Isn’t it easier for Wu than rounding up volunteers?” Astra said slowly, not at all concerned about offering up her, well, whatever Garmadon was to her.

“As much as one might point bias to this, I really don’t want to bait myself up to my senile, god obessed brother. He has plenty of willing subjects to go around, hell, he could make ten Portals if he wanted to. Wu’s the good guy in this. And I don’t know about you lot, but I’d much prefer being the bad guys.” the Lord bared his teeth, humour dancing in his eyes.

“Well it sounds as if Wu hasn’t got the weapons yet. Has he?” Nya voiced her questions, pleased to find the others backing her up. “And if not, where we would find them?”

“Our scouts  _ say  _ he hasn’t found them yet, but I suspect again, it’s a matter of time. Wu has to handle efforts in the city and make sure everything is running smoothly, keep up his facade and then find time to organise this. We do have reports, however, that he is shifting duties and handing some off to Morro and his Second Harumi.” 

Garmadon scowled at the mention of Morro, leaving nothing for Harumi. Nya doubted he even knew her before this.

Misako carried on gallantly even though everyone had more questions on the tips of their tongues.

“The Four Golden Weapons are the Sword of Fire, the Nunchucks of Lightning, the Shurikens of Ice and the Scythe of Quakes. You may notice they correspond with four of the elements the Task Force possesses. This is because Kai, Jay, Zane and Cole are the four elements of Creation. Only they can wield the elements to their fullest potential and achieve greatness with them.”

“Wu said something about the Creation elements, before we went to the monastery.” Cole said, his brow furrowed. “Wow, he really has been planning this for a long time.”

“What do you expect? The guy ran a shitty high school and just sat around drinking tea everyday,” Astra scoffed.

Misako cleared her throat and shot Astra a look that Nya recognised from her mother. It was the silent, deadly  _ quiet or suffer the consequences at home  _ look. Astra ignored it but stayed silent, her strong opinion lingering in the room. Nya didn’t like to think about Wu that much, knowing that if she did, it would lead to a spiral of never ending questions all starting with  _ Why, Wu? _

“The Sword of Fire is located in the Fire Temple, south-west of Ninjago City. The Nunchucks of Lightning are directly north in the Floating Ruins, and even further north is the Frozen Wasteland, where the Shurikens of Ice are. The Scythe of Quakes is a little south east, past the monastery the Hunted stayed in, in the Caves of Despair. The Fire Temple and the Frozen Wasteland are probably the furthest, but we can make one easy journey by getting the Nunchucks and Shurikens in one, the Scythe and Sword after that.” 

Nya watched as Misako matched every location with an image of the weapon and it’s biome. The smaller map beside it backed up Misako’s points. The Ruins and the Wasteland were in line with each other, but all of the weapons were far out from the city. Maybe it would be safer there, where Wu’s power hadn’t fully spread yet.

“When are we leaving?” Rema, the new girl, narrowed her eyes as she gazed at the map slowly rotating before them.

“We’d like to leave as soon as possible, however, there are some... _ complications  _ as to how we should split our time.” Garmadon sighed and swiped on his tablet, revealing a four sided holographic cube that played the same video and audio for all sides of the table.

Gayle Gossip smiled at the camera and waved vaguely behind her, the Palace of Secrets shaded in the evening light, the lanterns swaying in the gentle wind. Her iconic pink outfit had been changed a little, Nya noticed the golden dragon curled around the right side of her jacket sleeve and frowned.

“Hi everyone, I’m Gayle Gossip from NGTV, bringing  _ you _ , our loyal citizens and faithful watchers, up to speed with everything Ninjago! Just announced to media companies, we have received news of the biggest occasion of the month, maybe even the year, the Emperor’s Ball! Held in honour of the great Emperor Wu before his official coronation and enthronement, the Emperor’s Ball invitations have been sent out to our new VIP’s, and a select few from the crowd.”

Nya’s mouth fell open slightly.  _ This  _ was what the Lord was concerned over? Splitting their time over a silly ball rather than retrieving the Golden Weapons which would change  _ everything _ ? He needed to get his priorities straight. In her mind it was clear. Get the Nunchucks and the Shurkiens first, cross straight down to the Scythe and then to the Fire Temple. Not to mention Nya didn’t do balls. 

Gossip’s voice carried over to an aerial view of the area outside the Palace of Secrets where markets were occasionally held on paved stone areas. “Don’t worry, for those not invited, you can enjoy the festivities around the palace and celebrate at home. Taking place in exactly two weeks from now, I’m sure the Emperor’s Ball will be the talk of the town, or the city in our case. That’s all for now, and I hope your day is as good as ours!”

Hell, she didn’t even do proms, because she would rather be hanging out with her friends somewhere else doing something fun like skydiving or going on a run with Ryu. Maybe going to the movies with Jay or looking around his parent’s junkyard, which really, he shouldn’t be embarrassed of because they had some of the coolest half-inventions and scrap parts lying around. The time she’d visited before all of this mess, she’d really enjoyed herself. She’d felt like a little kid with a new gift scampering on top of towering piles of metal and hood caps enjoying herself.

Misako turned to her husband as soon as the clip finished playing. “Monty, you can’t seriously be planning to—”

“Infiltrate the ball?” Garmadon cocked his head at the table. “Why of course, Saki. What else would we do?”

**morro**

“Over there, Morro, no, over  _ there _ , stupid boy,” his father snapped, rolling his eyes. “Where is Harumi?”

“She’s in her bedroom, I believe, Father. She requested privacy to grieve for today.” Morro said slowly, letting his hair hang in his eyes.

His father lifted an eyebrow in question.

“It’s the anniversary of her parent’s death, Father. Her biological, and longer for her adoptive, parents, have been dead for four months. I believe she still holds emotional connection to their upbringing and status. Both sets of parents.” Morro winced as he mentioned the parents he’d help kill, but his father snorted dismissively.

“Emotional connections bring you down Morro, remember that. Never get attached to anything or anyone.”

“Yes, Father.” 

_ One. Cut off all emotional ties to save yourself in the future. _

“Are you excited for the Ball, Morro?” His father tilted his head, the rays of warm sunlight shooting straight across his rough-shaven face. Long gone was the white beard Morro had once associated with age and knowledge, leaving a shaven beard on his face. It freed up a lot of his father’s face, making his sunken golden eyes seem even further back in his face and his cheekbones sallower.

Everyone Father trusted, which was few people, suffered the same effects from countless nights of staying up and working. 

“Yes, Father.” Morro attempted to sound excited. “Quite.”

“You don’t sound excited, Morro.”

Morro hurriedly plastered a small smile on his face.  _ It’s tough work,  _ he wanted to say,  _ I haven’t slept in weeks.  _ Instead, he said “Work should come before the extremities of life, like you’ve always said Father. I want to concentrate on finishing the reconstruction of the temples.”

Satisfied, his father glanced around the throne room that was slowly coming together. Morro hated this room. He hated the memories, the tightness of the gas mask over his face, shallow, nervous breathes, hated how shaky his hand had been before killing Harumi’s parents, hated the burning lens of the camera in his hands, setting it down, watching the room fill with poisonous gas to make sure the Emperor and his wife were truly dead.

“You may leave, Morro.”

Bowing respectfully, Morro took a step back and bent over, his feet stuck together, and swept his arm grandly.

“Thank you, Father.”

o o o

Morro didn’t allow himself to relax as soon as he left the throne room. He didn’t even stop to rest until he was inside his own suite, sagging against the door as he drew in a shaky, long breath and pressed his face into his hands.

_ One. Cut off all emotional ties to save yourself in the future. _

He stood on wobbly legs to search the small kitchen adjacent to his room and found an extra-large cup of instant noodles. Curry flavour, his favourite as always. That flavour had been the one consistent thing in his life for, well, forever. Growing up an orphan in Stiix, a dead cheap neighbourhood, meant that his diet had consisted of a lot of fast, cheap and salty foods. 

The best part of having just enough money and wind powers was that he could heat the water himself by gathering a wind current and swirling the water fast enough it would boil. The kettle whistled softly and Morro grimaced as he poured the water into the cup, followed by the packet of spices. The strong aroma no longer made his eyes water, he was used to the smell and the deliciousness that followed.

As he waited for the noodles to cook, Morro hopped onto the counter and craned his neck around to stare out of his window. His room was on the third floor of the palace, offering a pretty view of a small courtyard below. Red trees recently imported from Jamanakai Village were still growing in their roots, a few branches covering his window as the sun danced the red tinted light inside his room. 

Morro grabbed a fork as he guessed correctly that the noodles were cooked and began eating, his gaze fixated on the servants scurrying in and out of the courtyard. Some struggled with a towering pile of towels and napkins, ducking under the low set beams on the exits, others were carrying trays of food and steaming dishes towards the lower rooms. 

He himself had escorted a few of the new guests and members of his father’s council to the palace. Apparently his presence as the Master of Wind satisfied their safety precautions, even though Morro had pointed out they may be adverse to elemental powers in whole. His father had not reacted to his doubts well, and Morro had been proven wrong upon shaking hands with the new officials and whiplash across his back. Seeing them treat his element as the superior, talk down the Hunted Seven and commend him for his efforts was a maddening experience.

His father truly had done the job well.

In fact, it was only cemented by the destruction the Seven and Garmadon had unleashed upon the city, and the small, public viewed reparations that were made by the Saviours, the team that had saved the city. Not once did the people question where they were during the battle, only admiring their respectful clean up jobs after.

Morro finished his noodles and chucked the cup into the bin, tearing his eyes away from the room directly across from his, only the courtyard separating them.

_ Harumi. _

He knew she was lying about grieving for her parents. Her adoptive ones, at least. She was the one that killed them after all. Killed them, cleaned up the evidence, returned to hanging out with Tox and Morro who had accounted for her, came back and screamed like a banshee. Pulled off grieving for them so well if he hadn’t known himself that she’d sliced their throats much easier than he had killed her birth parents.

He also knew she hated the Mayor and his wife,  _ really  _ hated everything about them. If there was one thing Morro had learnt about Harumi, it was that she was a skilled liar. It was effortless for her, a struggle for Morro, even though they both had blood on their hands.

So, so, much blood.

Harumi was too good at this. So good, Morro, who usually knew why everyone supported Wu, had no idea what her motive was. Maybe it was being lied to about her bio parents, or being mistreated and posed as a doll by her adoptive parents. Maybe she just liked the chaos.

Spare time wasn’t really a thing at the Palace of Secrets nowadays. There was always something to do, someone to help, assist, never a moment to catch your breath unless his father said he could. When his father said  _ you may leave _ , Morro knew it translated more to  _ train until I need you. _

_ Two. Train until you don’t fail. _

That led to three.

_ Don’t fail. You know better. _

Morro grabbed his training bag and set off through a maze of corridors and stairs towards the large gymnasium located on an underground floor underneath the main section of the palace. The royal red and gold theme carried even underground in much subtler tones. It became more modern the further down you went as well, something Morro was surprised to find.

Although the palace was fitted out with top tech security, improved by Cyrus Borg, the majority of the structure and build itself was very old and needed to be reinforced to really achieve top safety. However, his father was determined to not do this, in fact, he had argued against the more recent additions to the security in favour of employing more guards.

His father wanted to go back to the glory days when the Seven Deities were worshipped on the same level as the Emperor. But as always, Father wanted more. He wanted to be equal on a level no one had managed before, simply because he demanded it was his birthright. As the son of the youngest god, it seemed logical to his father. His father’s plans were only revealed to Morro one step ahead of the next move, because his father, even though Morro was his son, said he trusted him, knew he couldn’t truly trust anybody.

It wasn’t a nice feeling, knowing your father was too caught up in his plans to trust you.

He himself was otherwise occupied with preparations for the Emperor’s Ball. Morro and Harumi had been assigned to take care of the majority of the Ball, ranging from activities to food to decorations. He was having his doubts about the necessity of the Ball, because surely he should be returning to overseeing the old temples being rehabilitated. They were essential to garner good spirit and energy before creating the Blade Portal, and even then, the details released to him were sparse.

Morro would rather not dabble in the spiritual divine stuff and focus on the stuff he could see with his eyes. That, he knew, could be proved when the Blade Portal was constructed. But that meant retrieving the Golden Weapons from their hidden locations, of which only two copies existed. One in the digital database in the SOG, the other, with them. It concerned Morro that the Sons of Garmadon also had access to the map and information regarding the Weapons, but his father was relaxed about it.

When he’d worked up to courage to question his father, all he had said was;

“I have a special surprise, boy, don’t fret. I have a few old...scaled friends to call in.”

His father said that it was simply a race, whoever got there first would win, and that his ‘special surprise’ would slow them down. Morro would have liked to know what this surprise was since this was a major issue that was constantly egging him. Why the ball? They could leave right now and get to the Weapons  _ before  _ the Seven and make the Portal. 

He just wanted to do this the easy way, because he knew the more struggle the Seven put up, the happier his father would be when they lost. 

Because Wu Garmadon never, ever, lost.

_ Four. There is no such thing as losing.  _

—

**A/N: This chapter is a lot shorter than the last one by maybe six hundred words, for some reason I was really struggling and didn’t want to add a third pov. Anyways, you’ve now received a pov from Morro! Will you get more from him in the future? Yes! Will you potentially get a Harumi pov? Yes to that as well!**

**This chapter’s song is ‘daddy issues’ by the Neighbourhood**

**This chapter’s Q is: If you could have an elemental power, what would yours be?**

**My A: Either Astra’s or Skylor’s. Skylor’s is just hella op but I’m working on making it a bit harder for her in this book since she’s just op, and Astra is my oc ofc I’m biased.**

**-dommie out**


	8. [5] i give cole nightmares because i'm mean

**astra**

A ball.

A  _ ball? _

Was Garmadon crazy?

They needed to get to the Golden Weapons before Wu could, and the Ball was the perfect opportunity for them. Wu would be occupied for the entire night, possibly the next day, as well as his officiation into the throne, leaving them enough time to split into two groups and travel to the four locations of the Weapons. But Garmadon was still caught up in some petty brother feud with Wu like he had been in the Last Battle, simply enjoying the chaos and the trouble he’d caused.

Sometimes, Astra wasn’t sure whether or not Garmadon really wanted to reclaim the city or just cause eternal trouble for his brother.

However, she could tell that the slightly more logical people of the task force were having the same thoughts as her. Nya’s jaw was set as Misako gave a slightly more in depth description of the locations of the weapons. Zane, Pixal, Skylor and Cole all held similar expressions until Misako was finished when Astra jumped in.

“You can’t be serious about the Emperor’s Ball, Lord. It’s a waste of time when we could be getting our hands on the Golden Weapons and stopping Wu before this gets out of hand.” 

“Reaper, may I remind you that you are speaking to your superior. And when you speak to your superior, you  _ listen  _ to their decisions and keep your opinions to yourself. The Ball you speak so dismissively of is a great opportunity to receive covert intelligence. Many of Wu’s allies will be attending and we will be able to scope out the Palace of Secrets to add to our blueprints.”

“Why do you need  _ us _ , then? Send in one of your more experienced or perhaps,  _ less likely to be turned in for money _ , agents.” She shot back easily, squaring her shoulders as a scowl found its way to her face. “You are endangering some of our greatest weapons against Wu for plans we won’t need. If we need to compromise, at least send someone else.”

“Half of you will be attending the Emperor’s Ball, and half of you will be journeying for the Golden Weapons. Do allow me to explain myself fully before you take a leap of faith into an argument, Reaper.” Garmadon cracked his knuckles and swiped across his tablet screen, clearly fed up and finished with the conversation.

Two lists came up on the screens of seven names each.

“Squad Oni will be led by Reaper. Titanium, Arete, Junior, Bica, Aslec and Forge. Squad Dragon will be led by Valley and Destroyer. Roiya, Lato, Raven, Fritz and Lotus. No swapping or changes, that’s final. Oni will be going after the Golden Weapons along with Misako, and Dragon will be infiltrating the Ball.”

_ Metal, Earth, Energy, Amber, Healing and Fire. I can work with this. Either way, everyone’s in danger. _

Garmadon continued after a beat of tenuous silence, watching everyone take in their new squads assignments. “For the next two weeks you will be training in these new squads, preparing for situations you might run into and improving  _ all  _ of your mediocre skills. Dismissed.” 

Astra bit down on her tongue as Kade subtly shook his head at her and left with everyone else in a thoughtful daze. Part of her wanted to be infiltrating the Ball, finding Wu and knocking his kneecaps out, but the more logical part of her knew finding the Golden Weapons were just as important. That, and training, mastering how to lead Squad Oni and seeing if she could really accept the Garmadons as family.

It was nearing eight o’clock and everyone’s stomachs were grumbling. Taking up space in the hallway with their big clump, they were debating whether or not to stomach cafeteria food or make something themselves in the communal kitchen. Astra’s left eye threatened to twitch as she read the menu for that night,  _ meatloaf  _ and freaking  _ couscous.  _ Despite popular cooking opinion, Astra firmly believed the two belonged far, far away from each other.

As she was debating whether or not to bust into the kitchens herself and change the meals, Zane was approaching her. “Hello Astra, Pixal and I were thinking of cooking for everyone tonight, and we heard you like baking and cooking from Kade,” Astra shot Kade a hard glare but he avoided it with a grin and a wink. “So, would you like to help us?”

Lloyd chose that moment to swoop in, grinning, an arm slung over her shoulders. “Watcha doing?”

“Asking Astra if she would like to help Pixal and I cook for all of you tonight,” Zane said pleasantly. Lloyd’s head whipped to grin at her, his face saying it all.  _ A bet’s a bet, you can’t refuse it. Or you can, and lose.  _ Morphing her glower at Lloyd into a passable smile, Astra turned back to Zane and led him away towards Pixal and the awaiting kitchen.

“Sure, I’d love to. What did you have in mind?”

o o o

Forty five minutes and a covert trip to the nearest Master’s supermarket later, Astra found herself kneading a ball of pie dough over and over again. Pixal was preparing the ingredients for two of the quiches, and Zane the other two. Each quiche would have to suffice for three people alongside salad and a charcuterie board they’d put together later.

The insane amount of dough needed for all the quiches to feed the entire task force was starting to ache Astra’s muscles as she kneaded back and forth, sprinklings of flour in between. To avoid over kneading, she stopped when she judged the gluten in said pastry would be able to stretch easily. It was barely cold from it’s relaxing stint in the fridge, making it fairly easy to cut the giant dough ball into four quarters and roll them all out a few centimetres thick. 

Tongue stuck out in concentration, Astra traced the shape of the tin in the dough four times and then grabbed a can of baking spray. After she sprayed all the tins, she gave each a sprinkling of flour forming an even layer underneath the crust. Four times, Astra gently laid the dough over the tin and adjusted it to shape, primping and molding the pastry to look nice and prevent leakage. For the excess draped over the edge, Astra expertly ran a sharp knife around the circumference of the tin and rerolled out the remains to use them for separate tart tin for a smaller vegan quiche.

With a trip to the fridge juggling all four -  _ five _ tins, Astra set a timer on her SOG-issued watch for an appropriate time to wait for the crust to chill and set properly. After that she’d blind bake the crust just enough to hold the filling properly while the whole thing baked. In the meantime, she decided to get started on the fruit salad and charcuterie board. Glancing over her shoulder, she saw Zane and Pixal working in quiet tandem. 

Zane held his hand out for something he didn’t voice, and Pixal had already placed a spatula in his hand as the bacon popped and snapped in the pan. Call it incredible intuition, but the two were meant for each other. Astra couldn’t quite place the bond the two androids had, but their ease of independence and switch to codependence on each other amazed her.

Pixal was taking care of the quiche valerie (basically vegetables, herbs, and a crap ton of cheese) in addition to the classic quiche lorraine. Zane handled the bacon, cheese and sausage crumble quiche, the goat cheese and prosciutto quiche, and a vegan cheese, spinach and mushroom quiche. Astra walked over to the fridge and rifled through the fruits & vegetables section, passing over leek and chives to fresh punnets of strawberries, blueberries, red grapes, alongside mandarin oranges, bananas, kiwis and a pineapple. 

Juggling all of that and a bottle of honey, a few limes and a big bowl, Astra carefully rearranged her ingredients on her workspace and got to chopping. Her hands slick with fruit juice and everything but blueberries chopped, Astra finally got to slide the fruit into the big wooden bowl. After washing her hands, she started preparing the dressing. Whisking together honey, lime juice and lime zest, Astra tossed the fruit in the dressing and sighed in relief. She swept her arm over her forehead and switched out the fruit salad bowl out for the tins in the fridge.

Using parchment paper and special baking beads, Astra prepared the five quiche pastries by layering the parchment paper, then adding the weight with the baking beads. Zane came over and nodded appreciatively, mixing together what he told her was the second of the fillings. Astra set another timer on her watch and popped all five tins in the oven, careful to keep the pot of pasta on the hob steady as she closed the door.

A few minutes later, the three busy cooks were hunched over the now baked crusts, hurriedly piling in the fillings, topping them and smoothing them over. 

“Hurry, hurry,  _ ow _ , fu—dge sticks?” Astra quickly amended her swear, nursing the burn now blistering across the inside of her palm. 

“You should take care of that, Astra. Zane and I will manage the quiches and begin preparing the charcuterie board.” Pixal was already ushering Astra out of the kitchen with a wet towel pressed over the slashing burn.

The cold compress helped her burn, and although it wasn’t that bad it still hurt. 

“Hey, hey, what happened?” Kade was suddenly by her side, his blond hair flopping in his eyes as he examined her hand without asking. “Let me guess, a bad first degree burn, on an oven rack. Swelled a little, but mostly on the outside of your hand. Soreness, annoying, but not that painful. Am I right?”

Astra rolled her eyes teasingly. “Yeah, spot on Doc. At least it isn’t blistering. Do you have a cream or something I can put on this?”

“I have vera cream or an antibiotic ointment, but Obi says I should be working on using my powers more.”

“You healed my knee fine on Bombing Day, why do you need to practice?”

“She says it’s the adrenaline. Situations like those tend or strengthen or weaken or elemental powers, like how shocks and emotions influence them. So I need to practice without having other effects on me. Can I?”

Astra looked at the red skin on her hand and nodded shortly, sitting down in front of Kade on a chair. His back was facing the TV and couch, where everyone else was gunning over a massive Mario Kart race. She let her hand rest on Kade’s knee and watched as a warm glow surrounded Kade’s hands. A cool tangerine colour began forming tangible whisps, Kade’s brow furrowed as he gently clasped her burned palm between his hands.

The orb transformed from a barely tangible mess to a concentrated ball that grew smaller, sinking inside her burn painlessly. Once the glow had disappeared, Kade slowly let go of her hand and revealed the palm exactly as it had been before the burn.

“You didn’t have to get rid of the scar.” Astra said slowly. She knew it was easier for Kade to do internal healing and blemishes, but a scar was harder for him to remove. It was a permanent after effect of an injury, and healing only stretched so far.

“Well I can’t exactly give it back,” he laughed, brushing his fingers over the healed spot. “It’s fine, Astra.”

“Thanks, Kade. There's pomodoro pasta on the stove, by the way. Quiche isn’t exactly lactose free and the options was just a lot of vegetables so I’d already made it before all the meetings and you just have to warm it up, but y’know I just thought you might not want vegetable smush—”

“Astra.  _ Astra _ .” he waved at her playfully, a grin that stretched from ear to ear on his face. “Thanks for the not-vegetable-smush, Starra.” 

“Anytime, Gorski.” she swallowed heavily and turned to walk back into the kitchen, expecting the sliding door to be very much open.

Turns out Zane had closed it, and Astra’s nose did not appreciate the sharp crack of pain that shot through it upon her face’s blundering contact with the door. Astra stumbled back into Kade’s arms, his body heaving slightly - with laughter, she knew from his soft wheezes and stifled chuckles. A gush of blood was already streaming down from her nose and into her hand. Bile threatened to surface and Astra turned quickly, her nose bumping into Kade’s shoulder, the movement echoed by another strike of pain.

“Mother _ fuc _ —”

**cole**

Cake would have been nice, but quiche, fruit salad in honey-lime dressing, plenty of bread and a charcuterie board almost made up for the absence of such a delectable dessert.

After his fifth slice of quiche (Astra and Skylor had let him eat half of their portions), two helpings of salad and a sneaky mission to the other end of the table for the meat board, Cole was satisfied and his stomach groaned against the band of his pants.

“You know, if you had a  _ ninja gi _ , you wouldn’t be fighting a waging war against your uniform.” Jay commented smartly, raising a notched eyebrow. “In fact, some may argue that ninja gi’s are superior to all other forms of clothing.”

“Very comfortable, I might add.” Annabella Han slid in smoothly, a very detailed sketch a ninja gi - Jay’s, by the blue highlights, in her left hand, a pen and a table about half full of names in her right. 

“What is this, a petition?” Cole joked, a slightly concerned edge to his tone as Han pushed the pen into his hand. 

“Exactly that, Brookstone.” said the designer confidently. “Sign it. Or Sparky will shock you.”

“Woah, woah, woah, I never agreed to that!” 

“Hey, do you want this or not? Buck up, Walker.” Han ordered, and Jay flexed his fingers in fear. Although she didn’t have elemental powers, Annabella Han was a frightful force of nature, and Cole  _ knew  _ for a fact that she was training in using sai. It was essentially a giant fork with the outer two sharp prongs shorter than the middle, very forky, and very dangerous.

Cole had come to learn that a lack of elemental powers didn’t mean you were less powerful, in fact, most of the agents at the Sons of Garmadon had been training for ages before Cole and could beat him black and blue in any sparring match. Even Zander could hold his own in a fairly balanced fight, he was light footed and wielded a beautifully crafted (Tellum’s work) rapier.  _ And _ , even the more...mundane, well, a better word for them would be  _ less destructive _ , elements, were dangerous in the hands of a strong opponent. 

Take Gorski, he had the power of healing, something that didn’t quite match his gawky height, build and baby face, yet he was wickedly dangerous with a lengthy, whip-sharp koncrez in his hands. So no matter the outside appearance of an element, it was more important  _ who  _ was behind it. 

“Alright, we gotta get to bed. Squad training begins tomorrow, Notia will be sending out details at six-thirty, so you better be up by then.” Astra quickly rapped out the orders with practiced nature. Cole’s private opinion on Astra’s element was nothing, really. She hadn’t shown much of it in training and seemed to prefer using weapons as a crutch. “Hael, Ciaga, you’ll be attending general training as normal. We may need you for Sim exercises, so keep an eye out for any messages.”

Hael and Ciaga were Zander and Annabella’s codenames. He didn’t know their origins, just that they’d been finalised before the Seven had theirs. Everyone wished each other good night as they shuffled out, stomachs full and a nice sleep ahead.

o o o

Unfortunately, Cole slept badly. 

His dreams were riddled with horrifying images, ranging from his father’s mutilated body speared through the prongs of an electrical fence, to the day his mother died, to all of his friends gone. Just  _ gone _ . A city smeared with their blood, splatters and the consequences of their wild elements scarring the buildings. 

In his dreams, the most common theme was death.

Whether past, prophetic, or present, he couldn’t seem to escape it, and he hated it.

He could run for miles and miles in his dreams, never exhausted until suddenly the fatigue caught up and hit him like a bus. He’d trip over his own feet, knowing exactly when he would beforehand and be utterly frustrated with himself because no matter how hard he tried, he could never prevent the actions Dream-Cole went through with.

Tripping was always followed by his father being dragged away, his face streaked with dirt, normally neatly combed hair dishevelled and a shout tearing from his throat. And it was always the same phrase.

“HE WAS SUPPOSED TO  _ PROTECT  _ ME _. _ ”

Then, unspoken.

_ He’s failed me again. _

Cole wasn’t afraid of failure in tests, in school or in quizzes, no, he was afraid of failing the ones he loved. Something didn’t sit right with him that night, as he tossed and turned, desperate to make some sort of change to save at least one person in his nightly dream screening of death.

That morning, he woke up in a foul mood that was contested by no other than Astra Garmadon who never really seemed to sleep anyway. Her anger was much more outwards, generally more snappish and less careful with her words.  _ She’s won the bet anyway,  _ Cole realised, stabbing his toast through accidentally.  _ I wonder why Lloyd even bothered in the first place.  _

Astra and Lloyd were polar opposites in attitude and looks - Cole wasn’t even sure where Lloyd got his blonde hair from. Although he hadn’t seen pictures of Garmadon when he was younger, if you took away the salt and pepper shocking his hair, leaving the dark brown underneath, it would match his daughter’s perfectly. The tried and true angry scowls, sharp, constantly frustrated expressions and blunt honesty were only more matches that Astra seemed determined to ignore.

Cole’s mind was working sluggishly and on autopilot as he washed up his plate, bumping into Astra accidentally. He jerked back with lightning fast reflexes for such a bad night’s sleep. That was what living around Reaper did to you though, she was a ticking bomb who didn’t even know when she was going off. Instead of his predicted blow up, Astra looked at him flatly, gave him another look like she was staring into his soul, nodded once in recognition of another crabby sleeper and stuck half a triangle of toast into her mouth as she walked away.

He nearly dropped his plate into the sink of soapy water when his watch buzzed in synchronisation with everyone else’s.

_ Squad Oni. Fitness - Schoolwork - Lunch - ET - Gen - Break - Sim - Freetime. — Notia _

Their day was packed. Fitness,  _ School  _ stuff, Elemental Training, Gen, a spin in the Sim and then finally a proper break. For two weeks every day would be stuffed with training and preparation, and those two weeks would boost their skills.

These two weeks might determine who would make it out alive at the end of their mission.

—

**A/N: i am currently blasting through the second series of my week im a freaking reading machine. Anyways! Training montage next chapter how fun! You’ll get to see the Sim more in action, plenty of elemental training and how gen, fitness and all that stuff works. Oh, and how the squads work together, did Garmadon really plan them or properly or are the seeds of whatever being sowed? Also writing this am currently still in aftershock from Doomsday but team techno blood for the blood god as always.**

_**!important!**_ basically folks, i have a project (writing as well) that is hella important which I may have put off at the cost of this book AhAhaha so I have to take the next two weeks off updating (man I'm sorry but like i also want to pass in school). I also want to write up more chapters ahead of posting so an extra may be added onto that eugh I'm sorry.

**This chapter’s song is ‘We will rock you’ by Queen**

**This chapter’s Q is: what do you think of jay’s plan for ninja gi’s? Is it going to work?**

**My A: look man im the writer i cant answer that—**

**-dommie out**


	9. [6] je voudrais a better way to end chapters than cliffhangers

**lloyd**

“Junior, are those butkicks? Do they _look_ like buttkicks? Do they _feel_ like buttkicks? No, they don’t, because _they_ _aren't buttkicks_! Drop and give me twenty. Now.” Barked Arkade, their fitness trainer, rather sharply.

Lloyd had learnt well enough that ‘drop and give me twenty’ meant  _ drop and give me twenty excellent push ups with fantabulous form and no grunting _ . He attempted to do so, at least, and Arkade begrudgingly accepted his push ups. But honestly, how were Lloyd’s noodle arms going to help with that? If he really made his arm look buff to blow up his ego in the mirror, yeah, Lloyd had muscles, but normally they were barely there.

He envied Cole who bulked easily and could do most of the fitness effortlessly. The ones that struggled the most were probably him, Jay and Skylor. Nya, maybe a little, since she was still pretty strong from when she used to be on the swim team. Cole, Kai, and Kade had football (but from talking with Cole before everything had happened, Gorski hated football), Astra and Titanium (whose real name he still didn’t know yet) had been training for months, Titanium longer, and Zane and Pixal were robots with no regards to endurance.

Groaning, Lloyd got to his feet again and went over to the treadmills, directed to the one next to Astra. Arkade had made her run two extra kilometres for cursing at him (for no reason) when she’d over extended her injured knee. She really needed a better outlet for her anger, since running two k’s more would surely worsen her knee. But she’d scowled, rewrapped the sports brace around her knee and got to running.

“Hey Astra,” He gasped out after his first few kilometres. She made a grunting sound of agreement without taking out an earbud. “How are you doing?”

“Not well.”

“Oh.”

He drew in a wheezing breath and regretted it as it made his mouth ten times drier and he didn’t have a water bottle with him. Astra got off after she finished, slowing to a walk and then hopping off as she chugged her water. After a whole minute of him giving raspy breaths and the treadmill automatically increasing incline, Lloyd heard someone’s footsteps approach from behind.

“You forgot your water bottle.”

He twisted around to see Astra drinking from hers, a purple towel around her shoulders and a green bottle stretched towards him. Unfortunately he hadn’t mastered the art of looking behind and running on a treadmill simultaneously and it was inevitable that he tripped and face planted onto the track. Astra was at the dash in a flash, turning off the speed and incline.

Massaging the side of his cheek gingerly, Lloyd took the water bottle from Astra and sipped slowly. She’d made a trip to a medical station (there were  _ many  _ set up all around the base for obvious reasons) and returned with paracetamol, a bandaid, rubbing alcohol and a cotton square. He hadn’t even noticed the small trickle of blood on his forehead though Astra shuddered and looked away as she handed him the stuff.

Using the cleaner and cotton he wiped and cleaned the area, slapped a plaster on top and swallowed the pain reliever with water (he couldn't do it without water okay, was that a crime?).

“Thanks, Astra.” The paracetamol had kicked in and his aches from previous training and this one ebbed into the background. He stood up with a grateful grin, watching his sister nod sharply once.

“No problem, Lloyd.”

_ Lloyd. _

_ She called me Lloyd. _

“Um, I meant later, Junior. You have terrible running form by the way, stop staring at the sky like you’re worshipping the Dragon. Look forwards, and use your arms so that the socket of your elbow goes to your pocket.”

_ Annnnd it’s gone.  _

“Noted. Thanks anyway, Rea.” The nickname felt strange on his tongue and Astra’s normal angry resting face flickered for a second, but she nodded again and walked away to the rotation cycle for cardio.

Lloyd rested for a minute more and then cleaned off his treadmill - and Astra’s, apparently she’d forgotten (she was incredibly forgetful, Lloyd knew, she’d even left her bow in the boy’s dorm once after visiting her friends Kade and Zander) which wasn’t surprising. The rest of his fitness morning fell into a repetitive daze since they had a rotation on the cardio exercises, and Lloyd found it easy to zone out but stay relatively focused so he wouldn’t hurt himself.

It was something he’d picked up in school when he listened to teachers droning on and on, he’d keep his mind in a doze but aware of key terms or topics. And now, as he started forwards doing sit ups, Lloyd wondered if they’d ever finish their schooling, or if they even needed to

That question was answered when they entered the classroom post-shower and training. They had been doing casual schoolwork ever since the Final Battle which gave their lives some sense of normalcy aside from powers, training, weapons and being wanted criminals. Lloyd huffed in frustration and rubbed out his pencil work for an algebra problem (really, what was the point now they had their lives to really protect and Ninjago’s fate before them?) and stuck out his tongue in deep concentration. After jiggling  _ x  _ around a few times, Lloyd smiled in triumph and double checked his answer.  _ Big brain. _

They sped through Maths, Science, English and Social Studies, with studies in elemental masters thrown in as well. Magis was the agent that supervised them, and was quite helpful with Science and Maths since Lloyd struggled with those the most. A lot of the squad was restless however, and Lloyd could tell that Astra, Cole and Kai did not value time they would consider wasted on school.

Kai was bored enough to result in spitballs aimed at Astra and Skylor, the former who drew out a dagger after the first round. Astra went as far as throwing it and puncturing a painting of the Sea of Sand, shaving off the top of Kai’s hair. Lloyd had to conceal his snigger as Kai wailed and whined, fist bumping Cole under the table when Kai’s bag did not contain his hair gel.

‘School’ broke up for lunch, and Lloyd was the first one out of the door (narrowly beaten by Cole who was strangely agile and did some weird pirouette past Lloyd) towards the cafeteria. Dragon Squad was also trickling in from the showers, having just finished their intense fitness block.

Lloyd grabbed a red plastic tray, the feeling of deja-vu washing over him as the members on rota served the food grudgingly. Once upon a time, he’d been in Ninjago High waiting for his own lunch being served by grumpy lunch ladies, Kai in front of him and Zane behind just like it used to be. The only difference was that in Ninjago High, less of the food was being thrown at him to ‘test his reflexes’. Lloyd saw the apple fly at his face and quickly bopped it down to his tray with a flat hand.

Destroyer, who was standing nearby (not sweaty at all from fitness, she and Valley were exempt from following Dragon’s schedule since they were just supervisors, Zane had told him) might have raised a judgy eyebrow beneath her mummy-ish bandages.

“That does not look like catching, Junior.” 

“It’s still reflexes,” Lloyd countered Cassandra mischievously. The senior agent was unperturbed, the bandages around her mouth lifting slightly. 

“Oh, go and eat you rascal.”

Clutching his tray and keeping his feet quite balanced and not at all trippy, Lloyd sat down next to Titanium at the very end of the table, Skylor opposite him. The redhead picked at her food half-heartedly, pushing around the spirals of pasta without eating them. Lloyd leant forwards to take a napkin (he may have dribbled chocolate milk next to him) and accidentally brushed by Skylor’s hand. Chen jerked back and Lloyd was very aware of the fact that her hands were like ice blocks.

Nevertheless, he had to return to wiping up the chocolate milk mess next to him before Titanium moved and sat on it by mistake. He mopped up the mess, balled the napkins up and then shot a perfect arc over to one of the bins. Kai nodded approvingly and handed Lloyd a Milky Way mini bar from the depths of his bag (Lloyd suspected there was a hair dryer in there as well, amongst all the other bits and bobs).

When lunch passed, sadly, Oni Squad was introduced to an even more rigorous training schedule - set  _ and  _ directed - by his father himself. Lloyd found himself instructed to heat up a teapot with no outside help whatsoever (as in, no shock bracelets, no memory triggers, no advice) alongside Kai. The difference was, Kai was using fire to simply heat his pot up, and it wasn’t that hard for him, all he had to do was control his flame and not melt the teapot without over exerting himself.

Although Kai tried to conceal it, it was obvious he was pushing himself hard in training and didn’t see past the point of exacting revenge on, well,  _ Harumi _ . And Lloyd was torn between helping his brother or siding with the girl who had quite unfortunately stolen his heart - and still had it.  _ Family first _ , he told himself firmly. But what sort of family did he have? A mishmash of his father who had been a bare presence, a mother who was always away at work and a pair of siblings who had their eye set on getting even with Harumi.

It was awful.

Lloyd breathed in long and slow, staring at the tea pot with a mind full of cotton - how was he supposed to do it? Energy, his father had casually mentioned earlier, was in everything. 

“It’s green,” he’d said, very unhelpfully. “Energy is everything, Lloyd. Your power is simply, say, a focus, on a gun. It focuses the energy into a certain type that you want to use. You change out the types of energy with every different gun you use, but if you fail to focus it properly, it will backfire. Concentration is key.”

Of course his father had to relate it to weaponry. Lloyd could not imagine himself holding a gun - his sabre, yes, but not a gun. It felt  _ brutish _ , and Lloyd was taken with the graceful slashing dance of the avarian sabre. Sighing, he returned to his fruitless efforts with the teapot. It was ceramic, oddly, and had watercolour flowers like lillies and poppies bobbing up and down around the body. The lid was edged with decorative gold and that was the fanciest thing about the pot.

Lloyd was not, however, taken with the fact that he had to apply  _ science  _ of all things to his element. Energy came in many different forms, and the one he was supposed to ‘focus’ with was thermal energy. How was he supposed to do that when he couldn’t even get raw energy to stabilise for more than ten seconds? And then, possibly the smartest idea of his life (it was one of those spurts of brilliance Lloyd got) came to Lloyd. 

He’d been imagining energy as just -  _ energy _ , hadn’t he? Not anything else, he’d just seen it as his father said,  _ green.  _ Rushing to a desk in the ET hall, Lloyd dug around the drawers for a pen and a piece of paper, both of which he found alongside a curling iron. His hand took control of his inspiration, and before he knew it, the page was covered in delicate whorls of black pen all relating to his element.

There was thermal, represented in the curling stretches of flame that reached towards radiance, rays of black sun that stretched down to kinetic energy, a series of cogs, shaded to detail. Then sound, electric and some others he didn’t quite understand at the moment, but something inside him had put the pieces together.

With the pot in his hands, Lloyd imagined himself, not holding the weapon as his father’s analogy had told, but a paintbrush he’d assigned to thermal. The blank canvas before him stood ready for pen and pencil to sound and electric. Instead of trying to force raw energy through that little focus, Lloyd held firmly onto the thought of heat - of sunny days, of cold winters with the kettle boiling, getting sunburnt in the summer and guided those sure thoughts through. His drawn symbol of thermal blazed over the rest bravely as he poured what felt like all of soul into it.

It was as if there was a machine, a generator inside him that had roared to life and Lloyd opened his eyes to absolute  _ green  _ encasing the kettle. His concentration wavered, and instead of the pot growing colder, the heat returned in a flood and Lloyd dropped the poor tea pot and muttered a soft swear as it shattered into shards of broken art. Someone had made that, and he’d accidentally destroyed it.

“What happened?” Kai, Cole, and Kade were around Lloyd in an instant, all assuming he’d cut himself on the broken shards.

“Are you bleeding?” Kade already had a sphere of Healing forming in his hands and Cole and Kai were fighting over damage control, settling on brushing the pieces aside.

“I’m fine,” Lloyd smiled, showing off his unharmed hands. “I just figured out how to do something I’ve been struggling with.”

Kai made the connection quicker than Kade and Cole since he knew the exercise, and guffawed before pulling Lloyd into a brotherly headlock. 

“I knew you could do it! Nice one, Lloyd!”

“He bet me five bucks that you wouldn’t be able to until the end of the week,” Titanium called out, and Kai gave Lloyd a sheepish look. “Hand it over, Forge.”

Instead of money, Kai handed Titanium a fireball which the elemental deflected with his ‘wing shields’. Unfortunately it slammed right where Astra was working and a very elemental fight of chaos followed.

o o o

Gen wasn’t Lloyd’s favourite thing to do. It involved the sneakier side of their task, something people like Astra, Skylor and Kade were better at. He preferred to be out in the open so he could see everything that was going on clearly. Lloyd imagined Jay would be having a field day because most of this work constituted ninja sort of stuff.

“Shadows, Junior,  _ shadows _ ,” chatisted Thorn with an exasperated sigh. “Arete, your cloak is twisted and you can see your—gods, why did we ever let kids join?”

“Hopping on the Joker train, Thorn?” Astra grinned, her smile a slash of light from the corner she’d been hiding in. 

“And I thought you loved us,” Lloyd agreed playfully. Thorn looked like they wanted to tear their hair out but reconsidered and the lesson moved on.

Oni Squad had a very well deserved break (at least in Lloyd’s opinion) after Gen, before they had their last exercise in the Simulator. He took the chance to quiet his grumbling stomach with a chocolate muffin from the cake tier in the communal kitchen. Astra and Pixal had made them a few days ago and they weren’t stale yet luckily. The muffin was studded with chocolate chips - gooey again, now that he’d zapped it in the microwave.

“Junior! We’re going to the Sim now.” Astra yelled from the corridor outside.

“Coming!” Lloyd hollered back, the muffin sadly crumbling from his mouth.

Lloyd was still getting used to the uncomfortable shock the SimPiece gave whenever they were swirled into a new world. It was his second experience in the Sim and it was not getting any more comfortable. His mind was in internal battle because although his surroundings looked very real, he knew that it was  _ not _ . Something Valley had said to them, that you really had to believe, did little to help.

He’d rather fight reality than be bamboozled that he could get scratched and hit in the Sim and come out unscathed but achy. Yet he couldn’t argue that the Sim was going to be one of the most useful tools they’d have in order to combat Wu’s forces.

The most common exercise they ran through that day was simply fighting against the Emperor’s Legion - Wu’s city army, gathered of his loyal followers, a mix of volunteers, army, police and thugs. They would be their biggest challenge as they’d been training in the same weapons as them (if his father’s sources were correct) and were plentiful in number.

“Is a rooftop chase really the best way to train?” Lloyd gasped, quite out of breath. Astra laughed and ducked underneath a beam, rolling forwards in a somersault that she used to bound over a sheer gap between buildings. Cole, who had been behind Lloyd, jumped over easily, the tiles shaking underfoot. Then came Titanium, Kai (rather weakly, he almost fell, but Rema hauled him up grudgingly) and Skylor. 

He walked back a few paces and then ran full-pelt towards the edge, pushing off hard with his right foot. Lloyd sucked in a garbled shriek as he felt that foot slip on the edge of the clay-tiled roof. The momentum carried him over to the over roof but not fully, he was much aware of that as his stomach slammed into the corner of the slanted tiling, his chest slumped over the top and his legs dangling over the edge.

Utterly winded, Lloyd lay there and gasped for air, his face smeared with pinkish tile dust. Cole and Skylor helped him stand up and he thanked them with a grateful smile as he patted down his sore ribs for any broken bones. With no found, just a very sore rib cage, Lloyd went to run forwards to the next rooftop, determined, and slightly ashamed. He wouldn’t make that mistake again.

“Kade, you can do it, c’mon!” Cole yelled in encouragement.

The Master of Healing peered down the gap on the other roof, containing a shudder as he backed away. Lloyd narrowed his eyes. This was the guy his sister had nearly died protecting - and whether Astra accepted Lloyd or not, he was wary of this Kade guy. He  _ seemed  _ nice, but a lot of the guys at Ninjago High also seemed nice but were jerks.

Lloyd remembered Kade, like most of Ninjago High, as that kid who still hadn’t grown up from middle school. He had been tubby with wiry blonde hair and still had baby fat until one day he showed up at school and he’d shot up like a beanpole. He suddenly had lean muscles and his fair was floppy in that way girls liked. But despite all that and the baby fat that he hadn’t quite lost, people just remembered him as  _ that  _ middle school kid.

Kade shook his head, his owl like eyes - a green darker than Lloyd’s, shot with warm yellow like Rema’s - widening in fear. 

Astra hopped over the gap easily to Kade’s side. “Hey, what’s wrong? You aren’t scared of heights, are you?” 

Kade shook his head again.

Lloyd saw Kade’s left hand tighten its grip around his right arm, his nails digging into the flexible fabric of his uniform, but Lloyd still wasn’t sure what was wrong. Astra seemed to realise something, standing on her toes to whisper something into Kade’s ear. His head tipped her way and he nodded slowly, muttering something back. Astra smiled briefly, her mask shutting down again as she jumped back over to Lloyd’s side.

Kade glanced up to meet Lloyd’s eyes, swallowing nervously.

Lloyd looked this kid in the eyes as if he could stare into his soul and see his intentions, and then slowly nodded.

With a final calming breath, Kade Gorski launched into a run and jumped.

—

**A/N: i am me. I’m back baby i just wrote a book in like a month and a half feeling good, how have yall been? Im about to strangle my maths and science teacher. Even though Iva knows I’m a total scientist, I’m afraid I’m not the best at the subject and would like to strangle the teacher who assigns a shite ton of work.**

**This chapter’s song is ‘Internet Ruined Me’ by Wilbur Soot**

**This chapter’s Q is: what are your predictions for season 14?**

**My A: cole dying. Im sorry. I said it. But I really think he might die as much as I dont want him to :(. Or jay dies. Someone dies.**

**-dommie out**


	10. [7] jay simps for nya

**jay**

“He said yes? He really, actually said yes?”

“He did!”

“When are you gonna start making ‘em?”

“This afternoon, the materials should arrive in our department at twelve, then after they’ve been washed and dried I can get to work.” Annabella grinned, the pages from her sketch pad full of their brainstormed designs scattered around her.

Garmadon had finally said yes to their ninja gi ideas after a presentation, which he would tell the unbelievers about, that  _ definitely _ swayed him with the addition of their future missions in mind. Like Annabella had said, the material was coming in and the clothing department would be getting on that as soon as possible with the lead designer showing the way.

Jay’s smile broadened as Nya walked into the common area, her raven hair swinging in a ponytail. She was occupied with a small contraption, her fingers moving nimbly to readjust the fiddly parts. He raised a hand to wave at her but was met with an almost hurt expression. Her blue eyes darted from where Annabella sat next to him to Jay himself.

“Nya, we just heard that Garmadon approved the ninja suits!”

“That’s great, Jay,” she smiled, her face faltering for a second. “Will you and um, Annabella be working on it together?”

“Ah, Nya, you know despite my many talents, sewing and clothes are not one of them. I dabble in poetry—” Jay shut himself up, realising Nya would have heard this spiel before. Instead, a slightly bemused smile crossed her face, and Jay felt like he was sitting on a cloud at the fact that  _ he  _ had made her smile. It was one of those little things he loved about Nya.

“Well, I’m afraid breaktime is over, Walker, we gotta get to the Sim. Later, Bells, oh, and can I pick the colour for my suit?”

“Of course, Raven. I had a wide variety of blue coming in, so don’t fret. I’ve got you.” Annabella confirmed with the look that girls made, the one where a few words could mean an entire essay. It could either mean  _ sausage, ham, pepperoni, lamb,  _ or,  _ don’t worry, Jay’s not my type _ . 

Jay knew he wasn’t a lot of girl’s types, but it still kinda stung.

And Bells didn’t eat meat. A lot of avocado, yes, but no meat.

He also hoped that meant  _ he  _ was Nya’s type because Jay Walker still had absolutely no idea whether or not Nya liked him. Did he accidentally call her the nickname he’d kept in his head for years? Maybe, but an excuse could be given that he nearly died to some sort of fire. Nya was just -  _ Nya  _ \- to Jay. She was perfect in every way and she’d swooped in to save him like a goddess, and she’d looked like one in the Final Battle.

Ethereal, breathtakingly ethereal. 

All the while saving his sorry ass.

o o o

Some people didn’t like the Simulator. They didn’t like the idea of dealing with such a complex illusionary simulation, but to Jay, it felt like a massive playground. He could do literally anything in there, things  _ Fritz Donnegan  _ worthy. Jay stopped his solo mission in the Sim momentarily. Fritz Donnegan. He hadn’t talked to the guy since he’d accepted the internship and everything had gone downhill too quickly to even think about it until now.

He wondered how his childhood hero was going, then continued with his scouting task.

The illusion constructed with SimTech had created a perfect reconstruction of the Palace of Secrets, as far as Jay knew from a jolting camera angle Morro had given them during the assasination of the royals. They’d managed to pinpoint the two identities of the killers shortly after the Final Battle. Morro’s voice had matched what they knew from school. The other person they knew was referred to as Tox. They were the elemental of Poison, which explained the deadly gas used. 

Jay sucked in a calming breath and adjusted the practice suit he was wearing, which was an actual suit, the sort of dapper, penguin looking clothing. A glance in the mirror was enough to tell him that if his nervous attitude in posh crowds didn't give him away, his bird’s nest of hair would. He patted, pulled, and raked his fingers through the auburn mess into a temporary fix, and with a small time alert on his watch, Jay walked into the ballroom.

The imaginary scene was already a bustle of activity, with the whole ballroom a swirl of high energy, clinking crystal glasses and light, lyrical music. Jay gave his fake invitation card to a thin-lipped butler with a curly moustache. They checked it with a scanner. The affirmative beep might as well have cured Jay’s nerves. Although he knew it was a simulation, it was as real as possible, and if the forged invitation couldn’t get him through the real thing, he was royally screwed.

“Thank you, uh, good man?” Jay smiled, giving the butler an awkward mini-bow. The butler raised a brow and gestured simply to the refreshments table.

“Perhaps something to help with the nerves, sir?”

Jay’s eyes widened as he gave the man a sharp nod and tried to look aloof and above everyone as he walked towards the bar.

“ _ Hey, uh, should I really be taking him up on that offer? _ ” Jay whispered into his comm as discreetly as possible. “ _ I don’t think my parents would approve of me— _ ”

“ _ There’s water if you really need to drink, Fritz. Otherwise, eyes on the prize. _ ” Destroyer ordered, and Jay glanced at the array of drinks out on display. She was right, there was water nestled amongst the other bottles but Jay didn’t want to pee at the moment.

“ _ I’ll pass. Location on target? _ ”

“ _ Few metres to your left. Don’t engage until the party has really started. Sending in Raven and Roiya. _ ”

“ _ Woah, hold up I thought it was a solo mission? _ ”

“ _ Gotta keep you on your toes, Fritz. They’re coming in through the left wing entrance. Do not appear to know them, you may fake an introduction. Adding them to this line.” _

Nya and Pixal.  _ Nya,  _ And Pixal.

“ _ Sup, Fritz. _ ”

“ _ Hey Raven, Roiya. _ ”

Jay’s heart seized as he tried not to scan the ballroom for Nya and Pixal. He had to keep focused on his mission. Continuing with mingling, Jay got himself a glass of sparkling lemon water just to have something in his hand. Everyone there was dressed to the nines - massive ball gowns and suits in a tight colour scheme of black and white with hints of gold and a little red, the colours of the New Era and empire. His own tux was completely black, a gold tie the only pop of colour. Annabella had made it and everyone else’s outfits for the solo missions. Originally, they were all meant to take this mission on their own, but Troya had a habit of switching things up.

“Hello,” smiled a lady a few years older or younger than Jay. “I don’t think I’ve seen you around, handsome. What’s your name?”

Jay tried to control the bashful grin growing on his face. “I’m Herbet.”

“ _ Herbet? _ ” Troya hissed in his earpiece. Jay flinched and smiled even more. “Herbert Bond.”

“As in James Bond, the movie spy?” the woman’s smile turned puzzled. Her gloved hand carried her crystal glass to her lips and she sipped long and slow.

“Oh, everyone assumes that, quite the running joke. Refill?” Jay offered, with what he hoped was a charismatic grin. She accepted the flute he stole off a waiter’s plate, chuckling as she drew him to the side of the room.

“So, Herbert Bond, what do you do for a living?”

“I...am….an accountant. Yep, lots of accounting!” He grinned. He might have imagined it, but the sound of Troya facepalming managed to carry into his ear piece.

“Accounting, mhm,” she sighed wistfully, staring out to the dance floor. The band was playing a sweet, slow song for couples to dance to. “My name is Angelica, by the way.”

Jay scrambled for an excuse. “Sorry, I was just so uh, captivated by your um, beauty, that I forgot to ask you your name and instead I wanted to ask you…” his gaze slid to the white and gold checkered marble floor, his heart thumping at twice the rate of the music. “To dance. If you want to dance with me, I mean.”

Angelica smiled winningly, depositing her champagne glass on a nearby ledge. “I’d love to dance, Herbert Bond.”

Jay’s current problem? While trying to keep an eye out for his target, he also had to pretend he knew how to dance. And it wasn’t the high school disco-prom dance either, it was a sophisticated tangling of legs and arms he didn’t want to face. But he’d gotten himself in this situation, so he had to get himself out of it. If there was one thing Jay was good at, it was joking his way out of a situation. Ergo, it was time to de-charm Angelica.

“So,” Jay tried not to step on her red heels as they whirled around another couple. “Have I told you about being the STEM club president at my high school?”

“I love a smart guy,” Angelica gave him a roguish wink. Jay screamed internally. Why was his plan not working? She looked like she wanted to plan their wedding together and the only person he wanted to do that with was Nya. But Nya didn’t know that, and Jay was totally cool with keeping it that way.

“Well, uh, I like to lick my dirty socks before putting them in the wash.” he blabbed, lying straight through his teeth. Angelica pulled back with badly-hid disgust. 

“Uh, sorry, I must go. It was, um, nice speaking to you, Herbert.” Jay waved cheerily as she staggered off a little tipsy and very much away from Jay.

“ _ Nice job, Fritz. Didn’t know you were that good at scaring off potential suitors _ ,” drawled a very familiar, very unwelcome voice.

“Reaper,” Jay tried to seem friendly as he spotted Pixal from across the room, wearing a dark grey, practically black, off the shoulder dress that shimmered under the light. “What are you doing here?”

“ _ Thought I’d check in on your progress. How’s the wooing going? _ ”

“Shut up,” he hissed, crossing the room to Pixal. Jay aimed for the shrimp platters and pretended to stumble drunkenly over to Pixal, straight into the wall next to her. Feigning a bump on his head, Jay groaned and extended a hand out to her, laughing inside. 

“I’m Herbert Bond.”

“Jolie Yannanura. It’s lovely to meet you, Mr Bond.” Pixal seemed to have much more control over her features, her lips unmoving from a slight smile. Jay’s cheeks were puffed with laughter that he let out slowly in a long sigh.

“You too, Miss Yannanura. Excellent ball, isn’t it. Seen anyone that catches your eye?” Jay was playing it safe and cautious. How this mission would play out with two extra people would be interesting.

Pixal sipped slowly from her glass and made a face. “Oh yes, but I think he’s quite enraptured with another lady at the moment.”

She lifted a finger to point at a couple on the dance floor, smack bang in the middle. The guy had sandy hair and a white tux, looking the ying to his partner’s yang. Her hair was pulled back into a loose bun, strands falling down her back with her red and black ball gown. 

“Is that — is that  _ Raven _ ?” Jay shrieked in a low whisper. The target spun Nya perfectly to line up her startling blue eyes to meet Jay’s. They flicked away the next second like she hadn’t seen him.

“I don’t know who you’re talking about, Mr Bond, but perhaps if you step in, we can, say, switch up the dance partners a little.”

Jay smirked, running a hand through his hair. “Sounds like a good plan, Miss Yannanura.”

Pixal split off deliberately in a separate direction, taking the right wall of the ballroom to approach, slipping in and out of the crowd. Jay took the left route, continuing his intoxicated stumble towards Nya. Why was she dancing with that guy? Their  _ target _ ? He coughed into his fist, leaning against a thick beam. Nya and the target were directly opposite, with Pixal on the other side. Jay was debating whether or not to cut in before Pixal did, but the android was already gliding forwards towards them.

Jay hurried forwards, tripping over hems of dresses and apologising profusely to get to Nya. She spun out, right into Jay’s arms. He stepped in gracefully, one hand clasped in hers, the other on her waist. She quickly smothered her startled expression, craning her neck subtly to check where Pixal was whirling about with the target. 

“Herbert Bond,” Jay said, his cheeks burning red. What a stupid name. Nya probably thought it was a stupid name.

Instead, she gave a light giggle and passed under his arched arm and back into his hands. Jay’s ability to dance had improved tenfold, his feet no longer felt like flippers, his hands knew what to do and he even managed to slip in hushed conversation as the music swelled.

“Jolie’s dancing with you-know-who right now to keep him occupied, uh…”

“Penelope Grassband,” Nya sniggered into Jay’s shoulder. Pixal passed with a very alarmed look on her face, posture rigid and stiff as you-know-who paraded her about the dance floor. “And I have a plan, Bond.”

“Oh?” Jay twirled under her arm and nearly slipped on a patch of wet floor. “Do tell, Miss Grassband.”

“We’re going to knock him out if Jolie can get him away from the dance floor.”

“Brutal,” Jay quipped. Nya subtly stomped on his shoe with some very pointy heels under the cover of her dress. “Effectively brutal.”

She smiled sweetly, curtsying with a grand sweep as the music ended. Nya tugged on his arm, one finger on her camouflage ear piece as they walked towards a side door of the ballroom.

“ _ Roiya, we’re going to need you to bring in you-know-who to our location. Tactic Strike Out as planned should be good I think _ .”

Jay nodded to himself. Tactic Strike Out was quick and efficient with little to no blood. Nya had made a good call with that, but Jay was feeling a bit miffed she’d sort of taken over his own mission.

“ _ Alright, Roiya, Raven, Fritz, you have thirty minutes to finish this. Reaper out _ .” Astra’s mic made a muffled sound as she left the room and disconnected from the call. Exhaling slowly, Jay rubbed his hands together and hopped from foot to foot. Without Astra’s silent, overbearing presence he could concentrate more and not be worried about messing up.

“ _ Target’s coming with me. Prepare for Strike Out. _ ” came Pixal’s soft voice. Jay rolled his shoulders, cracked his knuckles, shook out his legs and then flipped up the back of his tail jacket. Pulling out the nunchucks hidden vertically along the spine (which made his back look really weird and knobbly), Jay gave the weapon a few test flings accompanied with some excellent audio effects. Nya shot him a disgruntled look from her position on the other side of the door.

Jay had the palace’s floor plan burned into his brain by Troya. They were in an outside corridor that wrapped all the way around the ballroom, where bathrooms, private rooms, cupboard and hundreds of passages split off from. Pixal would lead you-know-who through the doorway in between the ambushers and Strike Out would commence.

Listening for the soft footfalls on the red carpet, Jay was just able to tell the difference from Pixal’s heels - a soft, delayed one-two, and their target’s clomping footsteps. In perfect unison, Jay and Nya leapt out into the corridor and started the scuffle. Pixal jumped out of the way, fishing out rope from the seams of her dress. Nya was taking on Gary - wasn’t even his real name, but it worked - her collapsible trident expanded to full metal form.

Gary seemed to know his way around weapons too, pulling a decorative katana off the racks on the wall to parry her strikes. Jay closed his eyes, confident that Nya would hold him off while he prepared his part of Strike Out. He held his nunchucks flat in his hands and pulled forth the memory of the first lightning storm that had made his video go viral.

He grasped on the memory of fear and awe, forcing him to an amazement stand-still of shock. The lightning caged around the junkyard, sealing him in and trapping him essentially, slowly closing in, electricity crackling with power. Jay took all of that and channelled it into his nunchucks, a technique Garmadon begrudgingly taught them. Since their elemental powers were fickle right now, channelling them specifically through a weapon would do better than trying to use their hands only. That was for the more experienced.

Jay jumped forwards with a silent war cry, waving his nunchucks in a series of distracting movements. Nya cleared the way for him as Jay engaged Gary in battle. He flipped his nunchucks over, relishing in the bursts of power coming from the weapon. Gary lunged forwards, giving Jay the perfect set up for Strike-Out. From the outside of Gary’s arm, he pushed Gary’s left arm inwards and slammed his nunchucks down on his head. The electricity popped and shocked Gary into statis, effectively performing a Jay version of  _ Petrificus Totalus _ . 

“Nice job,” Nya grinned, sliding her trident into her back sheath. “Roiya, you good?”

Roiya nodded from where she was tying up Gary’s hands behind his back, pulling at the sturdy knots to check them. “Let’s go.”

Pixal and Nya took Gary’s slumped, trussed up body and carried him between the two with Jay leading the way out of the building. His visualised map of the palace was a perfect copy of the real thing, allowing the trio to hurry through the corridors relatively unseen. They made it out to their escape route - a black Master’s van with no trouble except a guy Nya knocked out. 

“He was looking,” she said stubbornly, arms crossed with a bemused smile. 

“And now he’s potentially dead.” Jay pulled a morbid face as the van spluttered to life under his feet.

“He’s unconscious,” Nya corrected with a smile. “By the way, good job out there, Fritz.”

“Not too shabby yourself.”

—

**A/N: i want to strangle so many people (fictional and real) i think i need to just sleep for a week, yes, more than i already do, and just like forget all of my responsibilities because I hate them. Motivation = gone for everything but writing and minecraft. Um. maths sucks, props to stem students but im going into a full ib program so why.**

**This chapter’s song is ‘Burning Pile’ by Mother Mother**

**This chapter’s Q is: who do you think is most likely to commit arson out of any of the elemental task force?**

**My A: either kai (because, um, yeah, fire powers) or astra and lloyd just causing chaos.**

**-dommie out**


	11. [8] our cousin returns (with angst in tow)

**morro**

The wind seemed to be egging him on towards the dungeons.  _ Traitorous powers _ . He clenched his fists and forced the wind back around into the courtyard. Harumi stiffened at the sudden change in the air, literally, but continued walking, her left hand resting casually on the pommel of her dagger. Morro brushed the green strands of hair out from his eyes and frowned to himself. The silence between the two right hand assassins of his father was tenuous. They didn’t speak much outside work. But this was work, even if he hated it. 

“So, Mente?”

“He’s been giving us some trouble,” Harumi flexed her long fingers. They were either pink from the late autumn cold or stained with blood she hadn’t cleaned off properly. “The Emperor believes the presence of another elemental master could either...dissuade him from our cause, or force him into it.”

“He refuses to work with us?” Morro was visibly surprised. It was only survivor’s sense to side with his father. Maybe Mente didn’t have that knack, but it would be his doom.

“It’s a stubborn, age-old sort of thing. He’s one of the oldest surviving elemental masters and is quite powerful. It is unwise of him to fight and have such resilient faith in the Hunted Seven.” Harumi glanced at her phone, swiping down to check notifications. Nothing. Morro looked away quickly, biting the inside of his cheek.

“Waiting on someone?” The brash words jumped out of his mouth, leaving a salty undertone that always seemed to coat everything he said.  _ Dammit, Morro _ .

Harumi was silent for a beat. 

“A guy from highschool.”

“Jake?”

“No.”

“Liam?”

“ _ No! _ ” Harumi spluttered with laughter, then reined herself back. “Definitely no. He’s a jerk and a half, a manipulator, a groper and has the humour of a six year old.”

“So...Chad?”

“Drop it, Tex. Besides, I doubt he ever wants to talk to me again after he found out what I’ve done. I shouldn’t even be checking. It’s distracting and, well—”

“And rule one. Cut off all emotional ties to save yourself in the future,” Morro said softly. “Good luck with him, Blanche.”

“Lady Blanche to you,” she said, but it wasn’t at all teasing like the words should have been. “Get your head in the game, Vortex. We need to help our Emperor and get Mente to join us willingly, or with force. Whatever it takes.”

“Whatever it takes.” he echoed, stopping outside the dungeons' doors. He gave a sharp nod to the guards on duty as they scanned them, taking in the duo’s fitted armour, dark red and gold detailing running across the plates. 

“Vortex, Lady Blanche.” They bowed deeply in trained unison, stepping aside to open the doors. The passage was damp and dingy, illuminated by a single hovering candle Morro kept alive with spurts of wind. He focused on that candle alone, a centre for his powers. Nothing could distract him. Seeing this particular elemental master in pain might trigger the master to inflict his mental pain onto Morro. 

“Blanche,” Morro unsheathed his nodachi, walking into the interrogation cell whilst stirring the winds around him. Harumi stalked inside with the grace of a predator cat - silent, deadly and very much dangerous.

The prisoner groaned, lifting his head slightly up. There was blood staining the right side of his face like an art project gone rogue. Tattered remains of swathes and swathes of grey barely kept his thin frame from shivering in the cold. This area of the palace was terrible in autumn and winter conditions. 

“Vortex,” Harumi picked at her nails with her dagger, white hair laid over her shoulders. Her red face paint almost seemed black in this shitty lighting. Morro took a step closer, pushing the candle ahead of him. A wisp of wind forced the prisoner’s head up properly. 

“Meet Neuro Mente, Master of the Mind, and our newest ally.”

**astra**

The night before missions, no matter how big or small, was never not chaotic.

“KAI SMITH YOU GIVE ME BACK MY HAIRBRUSH  _ NOW! _ ”

“Give me back my hair gel then.”

“No deal.”

“Fine. Go without combing your  _ oh so luscious raven locks _ .”

“Oh shove off Kai, you’re just jealous you have a stupid nickname.”

“Forge is like, the most badass codename out there, Bees Knees. Don’t you think so, Sky?”

“I’m literally named after a coffee brand, Porcupine, don’t get your hopes up. Oh, Astra. Astra!” Skylor jogged over to her, red hair swinging behind. Kai and Nya continued bickering relentlessly with Jay playing mediator in the common room. There was a loud  _ bang!  _ Astra didn’t even bat an eyelash at coming from the kitchen. Cole. 

“Yeah, what do you need?”

“I wanted to try something,” Skylor hesitated, pushing down on her long-sleeved top nervously. “With your permission.”

Astra cocked her head, pulling Skylor gently over to a corner of the common. A ball went whizzing over head, kicked from Zander. She hooked it with her foot and flipped backwards, sending the ball back to receiver. Brushing off her hands with a sigh, Astra gestured for Skylor to sit on the pouf opposite her as she tore into a chocolate chip energy bar. Skylor looked away from it and rolled her shoulders.

“I want to try and borrow your powers, for a little bit.” 

“A little bit?” Astra raised a brow.

“The power of Amber is complicated. My mother’s journal has taught me that I can have two elements on hand at a time, and one in like, say, an inventory. No more. After that, I have to switch physically in and out of the other elements. So, if I have Water and Lightning and want to swap Lightning for, say, Fire, which I have in my ‘inventory’, I can do that. But if I want Earth or Ice, I have to sacrifice one of those slots and it takes a lot of energy to do that. I have to switch powers every day or so otherwise...well the book didn’t say so.” 

“Interesting.” Astra fished out a blondie bar from her training bag and offered it to Skylor. The redhead pushed it away, tapping one of her tachi against her knee. “Sorta balances out your power capabilities.”

“I’ve tried everyone’s powers but yours and Lloyd’s so far, and it’s perfectly fine if you don’t want to. Amber comes with a sort of radar so I can tell what your power is like — an aura, almost, if you want to call it that. Everyone else’s is different to yours, more full of light and life, and your power is just—”

“Dark and destructive,” Astra supplied, looking at her own hands covered in calluses, scrapes and scars. “Easy to guess. Look, if you really want to have a go, I don’t mind. Is now a good time?”

Skylor nodded. Astra stuck out a hand, waiting as Skylor took a deep breath in and furrowed her brow. Whatever was happening was complicated and restricted mainly to the knowledge of the Master of Amber. Astra knew the general gist of how Skylor’s powers worked, but she didn’t exactly know the process. 

That was a secret. Eventually, Skylor let out a very long sigh and then touched Astra’s hand gingerly. She felt an invisible pull from her to Skylor, like Sky was tugging a bit of her power towards her. And then Skylor jerked back, tumbling off her seat with a strangled gasp, clutching at her chest. Astra shoved the pouf aside and sat Skylor up so her back was leaning against the wall, body racked with coughs as sweat began trailing down her forehead. 

Kade was by her side even before she noticed, his hand checking Skylor’s pulse with utmost calm. Skylor flopped over into Astra’s arms, her eyes slowly flickering open. When she looked at Astra, expression waxen, Skylor didn’t seem to think that anything was wrong.

But something was  _ definitely  _ wrong.

Chen’s eyes were purple.

“Give it back,” Astra ordered, grabbing Skylor’s hands. “You have to give it back, Chen, c’mon.”

“Can’t,” Skylor breathed, her purple eyes dazed. “Not enough energy.” 

Kade looked at Astra, turning then both around so their backs faced Skylor.

“It’s poisoning her. She needs to transfer your power back to you but she doesn’t have enough energy to do it right now.” Kade looked scared. Scared because Astra had let Skylor use her blasted powers which had somehow  _ poisoned  _ her. 

“Kade, this might be a little unorthodox, but work with me here, Doc,” Astra said slowly, holding her sword upside down as she approached Skylor. “Sorry, Chen.”

With an apologetic wince, Astra swung and knocked Skylor unconscious. Kade yelped, shooting Astra a panicked face. He steeled himself back into calm, walking towards Skylor to bend down and pick her up. He was stopped by Kai though, who groaned slightly with his injury as he picked Chen up. Astra sniggered into her shoulder. Skylor definitely would have hit Kai if she was awake right now.

Kade and Astra spent the trip to Medwing trying to convince Smith to let them carry Skylor since he was on the verge of passing out himself. Kai stubbornly refused to do so and laid Skylor on a bed gently, gasping for air right afterwards. Obi swiftly ordered him to bed rest as well, then attended to Skylor with Kade loitering by her side. Joker soon arrived as well, hooking Chen up to an IV machine and a bunch of other machines. Kade was rushing about the private room, clipboard in hand, looking out of his element but somehow in it all the same. 

Astra was sitting on her hands, trying not to look at Skylor’s unconscious body on the bed next to her. Crisp linen sheets had been drawn back so her head rested on a pillow, part of her left and right sleeves cut away for drips. Kade eventually caught a break, collapsing in the chair next to her. Astra drew up her knees whilst still managing to keep her hands prisoner, using her knee to push over the rejected blondie bar for Kade. He ate it in about three seconds flat, squashing it into his mouth hungrily.

“You good, Starra?” Kade was staring at her weird posture, brushing his hands free of crumbs. He seemed to put the pieces together when she failed to respond. “It’s not your fault.”

“It is my fault, Doc. Don’t argue with that if you know it’s fact,” Astra sighed, swallowing hard. “What happens if she doesn’t transfer back by tomorrow?”

“I don’t know,” Kade glanced to Skylor, his green eyes darkening with worry. “That’s the thing. We can keep her unconscious but she has to heal herself before she can transfer it back, I think. Our mission will be set back by a day at least.”

Astra’s hands freed themselves momentarily to form fists clenching the sides of her chair. “Dragon Squad still has to go ahead. We can’t risk either mission having setbacks, curse the Gods. If Wu gets the weapons before us, it’s going to be my fault.” 

Kade’s hands were covering hers as he leant down, his face millimetres from hers. “It’s not your fault, Astra. We can fix this.”

“How,” Astra said shakily, not quite sure if it was from the stupid situation she’d landed them in, or the fact that Kade’s face was so close, “Is it not my fault?”

The silence was worse than when he was trying to make her feel better.

“It’s my fault, Gorski. Accept it, okay? You’ve got it in your head that my powers aren’t bad, but just look at what I’ve done  _ already _ . There is no good in Death.”

“You know what, Astra? I’m sick of you constantly putting yourself down. You can see both sides, positive and negative, to anything  _ but  _ yourself and that’s just idiotic. Stop trying to make the worst out of your own situations and see some good in it, gods’ sake! If someone else fucked up like you did, you’d be trying to get an advantage out of it, no? Skylor  _ asked  _ you—”

“And I said  _ yes _ ,” Astra shouted, her hands flaming alight. “I said yes, and look what happened! Forgive me if I realised that my powers suck before you did and started your charity case campaign on me!”

“You aren’t a charity case, gods, why do you have to be so stubborn?”

“Why do you keep trying to fix me?”

“I’m not trying to fix you!”

“Then what are you doing?” Astra snapped, her eyes burning with anger. Why was Kade being so stupid? “Tell me, what are you doing?”

“I’m trying to  _ help  _ you!” Kade yelled, standing up to a towering height. “You can’t see that though, for some reason, you’re blinded like a donkey and you straight up refuse to think anything else—”

“Did you just call me a donkey? Seriously, Kade, just leave it. I don’t need fixing. I don’t need help. I don’t need to see anything else since I’m perfectly fine the way it has been for ages.”

“Fine.”

“Fine.”

o o o

_ That was not a smart move, kid. _

“How? He was being stupid, of course it’s my fault. Anyone with common sense could see that.”

_ Maybe he was blinded by something else. _

“Now is not the time for philosophy, fake-Vance.”

_ And how many times do I have to tell you that’s it me? _

“Until you prove it.”

_ Then I have a solution _ .

Astra stopped walking, leaning against the wall. She breathed in and out calmly, shoving her hands inside her pockets. 

_ There is a girl named Rema Barron who has abilities that...would prove to you that I’m very much real. That you’re not the only person who can hear me _ .

“Fine.” Astra resumed walking back to the girl’s dorms, her stomach swirling with guilt. Skylor would pull through, Obi had confirmed that. It wasn’t that which was bugging her though, it was the fact that Skylor had tried out everyone else’s powers and hadn’t been poisoned by them. What if Lloyd’s were like that as well?

“No chance,” she muttered to herself. Energy was clean and pure and bright. Death was the opposite and it was a fucking curse compared to the other’s abilities.

If she got too close to a dying person, Astra was like a giant clock. Her heart thumped along with theirs as she was forced to count down the seconds until their death. With Wu being Emperor, the death rates within the SOG had risen from the little it had been before. Being a life force clock was not preferable, but Astra had to deal with other things at the moment. Like finding out what ‘Vance’ was saying.

“Rema?” Astra stuck her head inside the dorm room and was pleased to find Rema sitting on her bed, flipping the pages of an art book back and forth. “Could you do something for me?”

“Sure, what’s up?”

“There’s this guy named Vance—”

“Woah, woah, woah, I thought you were dating my cousin?”

“What? No!” Astra spluttered indignantly. “No way am I dating Vance — the guy’s  _ dead _ .”

“So you’re dating Kade?”

“Stop saying that!”

“I’m not saying anything, I just like, assumed it since—”

“Since what, exactly?” Astra crossed her arms, a disgruntled scowl prominent on her face. Rema took the hint.

“What did you need me to do?”

“Vance died — he was the replacement history teacher at Ninjago High, a double agent for the SOG and Wu. Wu found out about it and had him killed. That’s not the problem, though. I keep having these...voices?”

“Voices?” Rema inched further out onto the edge of her seat. “Linked to your powers?”

“That’s what he — Vance — the voice — says, anyway. I don’t think it’s…”

“Real?” Rem nodded thoughtfully. “I can try to branch out, but I can assure you, the voices  _ are _ real. They’re just ghosts that still have strings attached to this plane. I don’t know much about this since the voices usually come to me, but could you tell this Vance to branch out as well?”

Astra bobbed her head, turning away to face this door. Gods, this was going to be embarrassing. When she opened her mouth to speak, however, no words came out. 

**_Hey, Vance, can you ‘branch out’ to Rema?_ **

_ Kid! Finally, you’ve realised you don’t have to look like a psychopath talking to yourself! _

**_Wait, what?_ **

_ You’re not talking. You’re branching out, like your friend said. And I shall talk to her. _

“He says he’s trying.” Astra sat back down, letting out an exasperated sigh. Rema had her eyes closed and was nodding to herself, humming something along with the end of her pencil tapping along. A few minutes after some deep meditation, Rema finally spoke.

“Well, he called me kid, for starters. Then he said something about blowing up a bathroom? Throwing a tantrum? Breaking your knee? What’s that all about?”

“Okay, so it’s definitely him. You’re saying this kind of communication is normal for you?” Astra tried to keep her excitement under wraps. Someone who had powers like her? It would help with training and, quote-unquote, not having to ‘look like a psychopath’. 

“Sometimes,” Rema paused, stretching her legs out like a cat. “It’s hard because these ghosts come to me, not the other way round. That’s why Vance had to branch out to me as I tried on my end as well.”

“Would it work like that for me?”

“Hypothetically? Maybe, but your powers are basically the opposite of mine, so I can’t say it’s exactly the same.”

“Cool, thanks Rem.” Astra allowed herself a small smile.

“Why do you need to know? I don’t mean to be intrusive, I just thought Garmadon would have taught you already?”

“Maybe there’s a reason why he hasn’t yet,” Astra looked at her fingers, flexing the long, scarred limbs with a grim smile. “Because the person I want to talk to is responsible for all of this.”

**morro**

“Still nothing?”

Harumi shook her head, wiping the thin blade of her dagger on a dirty cloth hanging from a rack next to her. “He’s very stubborn, but I think we have the trump card with us. You have the kid?” 

Morro nodded, jerking his back towards the closed door. “He doesn’t suspect anything, and I can’t sense any elemental power within. He might just be a dud since he’s not directly Neuro’s kid. Chances are Mente might not even care, Lady.”

“Well, he should still care,” Harumi gritted her teeth with a scowl at Mente’s limp form in the chair. “Just because it’s not your kid doesn’t mean you shouldn’t care for them.”

He remained silent and went to get Harvey. Neuro’s nephew was their trump card, but it felt wrong of them to manipulate Neuro using family. Harumi didn’t care, though. Morro ushered a wide-eyed Harvey through the doorway, wishing the kid wouldn’t have to see this. Neuro seemed to sense the timid presence of his nephew, stirring slightly through a haze of pain.

“Harvey?” croaked the old man weakly. “No, it can’t be.”

“Oh it is,” Harumi smiled wickedly, prowling forwards with a hungry glean in her eyes. “It’s reality, Neuro. Now, is little nephew Harvey going to join the kids at the Palace, or is he going to take a trip downstairs?”

Neuro hissed spitefully, thrashing about in his bonds. Wrists chafed red and with blood, he gave up quickly. Morro stilled the little air in the room and watched with guilt sinking in his stomach as everyone’s moods changed. Even six-year old Harvey noticed it.

“You can’t use the boy against me,” Neuro protested, his voice hoarse and throaty. Harvey whimpered, catching sight of the right side of Neuro’s face as it fell under the light. Red was streaked across his face, skin raw and sliced up with Harumi’s blade. “He means nothing to me.”

Harum gave Morro a sinister grin, and he stumbled forwards with the prompt. He drew his nodachi calmly, forcing Harvey’s head back into his hand. The long blade hovered carefully over the young boy’s neck. To his credit, Harvey did not move. He did not whimper. His naive eyes remained focused on his black-and-blue uncle with worry.

“Does he still mean nothing to you?” Harumi egged the old man on with glee. The red on her face was like a war trophy. Neuro’s was the pain from that war. “Nothing at all?”

Neuro remained silent.

Morro steadied his own hand with a gauntlet of wind.

Lady Blanche snapped her fingers. Morro’s nodachi gilded closer to Harvey’s throat, so close that when the youngling swallowed, his throat bobbed against the blade. Angling the blade, Morro kept his mask of brute silence, his cold, lanky fingers fastening a muzzle around Harvey’s mouth. Neuro gulped for air, his eyes sliding to Harvey as Morro pressed the cold metal even harder into Harvey’s neck.

Even the steady glove of wind couldn’t stop his hand from shaking slightly as the nodachi blade nicked Harvey’s skin and a trickle of blood came flowing down. Harvey was trembling against Morro’s hold, mouth slightly open as he gasped, crying out in pain as the nodachi drew another stream of blood.  _ Gods, this is a fucking kid. What am I doing— _

“Stop,” Mente finally demanded. “I’ll work with you if you promise Harvey will be safe.”

Harumi and Morro exchanged a glance they didn’t need. The plan had already been discussed beforehand. Taking care of Harvey was another blip in Morro’s life he would have to take care of - and a kid, Harumi said, might teach him some responsibility. He didn’t need responsibility, he needed this stupid ball to be over so he could return to searching for the Weapons. 

Babysitting sucked ass.

“Deal.” Harumi stuck out a hand and her bottom lip teasingly, as if shaking Neuro’s hand. They were bound to his sides by Vengestone chains, rendering those limbs useless. Neuro spat next to him, just by Harumi’s booted feet. The Lady looked back at Morro, sliding her knife against the stone walls with a horrible screeching noise. 

“Take Harvey with you, Tex. I have to check if Mente  _ really  _ is on our side.”

—

**A/N: watch me somehow turn this into an enemies to lovers or at least an i hate you you hate me to lovers fic. I am finishing this chapter in art class after my teacher roasted me again. Look, as much as harumi has like so much potential she’s like my fav female villain. However, good au harumi one shot probably coming if i can get off my ass :)**

**This chapter’s song is ‘party anthem’ by the arctic monkeys**

**This chapter’s Q is: what do you think their plans for neuro are?**

**My A: why do i always ask these questions? I'm the author. Anyways, it’s not gonna be good, psa.**

**-dommie out**


	12. [9] ssssnake, and it aint toxic friends

**charlie**

Look out duty sucked.

Astra and Kade being pissed at each other also sucked since the crew was feeding off the negative energy. He continued pacing the small area where the scanners were located, occasionally glancing back to check the screens. The green wavelengths ran out and washed back, picking up nothing in the sky. Flicking a few switches on the screens on each side of it, he conducted an above and below ground scan. The computers brought up nothing.

Deciding to sit back down again and use his impatience for something useful, Charlie grabbed his metal scrap bag and summoned the parts he needed to his hand. It zipped to his outstretched palm like a magnet, nuts, bolts, fillies, super-mini-conducters and a grevien reacting to his call. Charlie relaxed a little as soon as he began using his powers, hands moving the pieces into the right places without screwdrivers since he could just twist the metal to his liking.

_ Charles,  _ he could practically hear his grandfather’s voice,  _ Karlof always says what? Pay attention, or death! Succeed with fists of metal and brains of steel! The Duckworth family prevails! _

Biting down on a swear, he jiggled around the compactor and grevien to switch places, carefully weaving together the wiring with a flick of his fingers. The metal fillagrents fit perfectly like he’d imagined in his mind. On autopilot, he conducted another three-level scan and waited for any beeps while he poked around the conductor.

“Holy First Master—” He shot the computer another glance and rubbed at his eyes like he could believe what he was seeing. He  _ couldn’t _ , actually.

Not even a freaking day in.

Charlie burst out of his tiny space and through the top deck of the SOG patrol plane. Astra was in the cockpit, lounging in the pilot’s seat with a reuben sandwich in hand as she checked the autopilot steering. Misako was sitting next to her, a package of a ninja-looking outfit fitted for Astra in her hands. Astra’s mother smiled kindly at Charlie, dropping the package to whisper something to Astra. Her daughter nodded briskly as Misako left, closing the door behind her. 

“Reaper, we have a problem.”

“You’ve got to be shitting me,” Astra crammed the rest of her sandwich into mouth. Charlie gagged at the sourdough bread but led Astra to the scan room all the same. The autopilot system should keep them on track and the AI should warn them of anything. 

He motioned towards the scan screens and refreshed for a more recent update. Astra swore a lot more than he did, her fingers darting over the screen as she zoomed in on the report.

“Serpentine?”

Charles nodded, already commanding one of his falcons to fly over to his shoulder. The metal bird perched there calmly as he gave instructions to the bird, fusing his power of metal and programming together to instruct the bird on a recon mission. They were too high up for their cameras to get any accurate information, and the bird would be a lot less inconspicuous than a military grade scout plane lowering altitude. The falcon switched to camo mode, gaining life-like feathers and attributes. 

“I’ll send a scout down,” Charlie informed Astra. She nodded as his falcon melted through the metal of the plane and reformed on the other side, swooping down through the cotton candy clouds. Titanium winced at the slight headache from a complicated move - pushing metal through metal was harder than metal through a substance like wood. He could differentiate the two, but it was harder with many different types of metals.

Reaper spun around in Charlie’s chair with a tablet in her hands, swiping furiously on the screen. He received a ping on his watch containing a series of files and a demand to meet on the lower deck for a meeting. Skylor, still recovering, but alert, would take over scan duty. The rest of Oni Squad was already assembled on the second deck, Aslec at the opposite end of the table from Astra with Arete, Junior, Forge, Misako and himself filling out the sides. Compared to when they trained as a big group, this smaller squad was strange to work with.

At least Kai and Nya were separated.

Sister Smith was more cool headed than Kai, literally, and would be less likely to break off to find Harumi at the Emperor’s Ball in two days. Charles nodded to Cole as he sat down. The bulky ninja was sharpening the curve of his scythe carefully. The metal reached out for Titanium in a pull he might have found irresistible when he first started training. Like the rest of the task force, upon discovering his powers they had reacted to every type of metal around him.

Being underground, there was a  _ lot  _ of metal, which meant control was instrumental in his powers.

“We have a situation,” Astra jumped straight in like her father did, bringing up a live camera feed from his falcon to float in the middle of the table. “Our scanners have picked up small numbers of Venomari scouting packs. Above ground.”

“Aren’t they like, supposed to be underground? Locked in chambers, like the Lord told us?”

“Yeah, no shit, Kai,” Astra rolled her eyes. “Which means someone has let them out, and I’m willing to bet Jay’s pudding cup that it’s Wu. He’s the only other person who knows where the Serpentine tombs are and has full access to Domu Library. That’s where the map is — was, kept, I guess.”

“So they’re after  _ us  _ now?”

Charlie’s falcon swept down wards even more, dangerously sitting on one of the last transports carriages that the Venomari were using. Beady eyes zoomed in on humanoid snakes with green scales ranging from jungle green to lime and red patterning across their chests. Sliding diagonally up their snake heads were four yellow eyes on each side, the middle punctuated with two sharp fangs and a red forked tongue.

“That’s what we think. They’re heading in the same direction as we are.”

“The Caves of Despair,” Charlie said, flicking a 3D map of the caves up next to the live falcon cam. “And that isn’t good. Wu’s made even more allies in the time we’ve been training, it appears.”

“What could he have bribed them with? Didn’t he lock them in with his brother? If someone did that to me, no way in hell would I be helping them.”

“So it’s something big that’s worth the trouble for the Serpentine, then. We need to be on the lookout to see if we can manipulate that to our advantage and either bring down the value of the offer or make our own. The Serpentine’s special abilities are powerful weapons in the right hands.” Astra said matter of factly. 

“The Venomari have the hallucinatory venom spit, right?” Lloyd clarified, staring at the cam.

Astra nodded. “Don’t get hit by it. We haven’t done a lot of blind folded training, so improvise.”

“How are we supposed to do that?”

“Figure it out yourself, Aslec. Fix it yourself. Help yourself. Assist—”

“...Okay, well, how much longer until we arrive at the Caves of Despair?” Cole spun a pen in his fingers, looking considerably more excited than the rest. After all, his own weapon lay waiting for them in the rocky landscape.

“We just passed the Mountain of a Million Steps,” Astra carried on, pulling up their flight plan beside the other holographic information. Cole, Lloyd and Kai all flinched simultaneously.  _ Oh, the Monastery Wu ‘trained’ them in is there. _

“So another night and maybe a few hours tomorrow. The Venomari tomb is over by the Toxic Bogs, which means they’ve been travelling for a while by foot. The  _ Nightwing  _ should get us there before they do. Our problem is numbers, which in hand, gives us the advantage of stealth. We need to be quick, we need to be silent, and we need to defeat the guardian as fast as possible.”

“It should be easy,” Cole clarified. “I mean, it’s not like there’s going to be a dragon there, right?”

Astra held his slightly worried gaze, then shook her head. “There is no dragon.”

He instantly relaxed. Cole’s not-fear of dragons had prompted several pranks along the corridors of their dormitory and training areas - dragon sock puppets, dragon patterns in his food, Thorn had even taught them a whole unnecessary section on the ancient dragons of Ninjago jokingly. They said the dragons had all died out or left. To where, Titanium wasn’t sure.

Titanium sat up further in his chair, waiting for more. He hadn’t been at the briefing for the guardian, fixing one of the rotoscope planes instead. But Astra rushed past it and began delegating tasks for when they touched down, patching in Skylor to a call to give her a run down.

“Their numbers haven’t increased, “ the redhead informed them, “They are slowing down, however, and seem to be setting up camp for the night.”

“Pah! Imagine having to  _ sleep _ ,” Kai snorted. Everyone looked at him. Most in disappointment. Others in confusion. Forge kept quiet after that.

“Tomorrow we get the Scythe of Earth, then.” Cole confirmed with a grim smile. “Let’s hope the Venomari sleep in late.”

o o o

The Venomari did not sleep in late.

In fact, they managed to be up and awake before most of the crew was. Charlie, from his spot monitoring the scanners, alerted everyone who wasn’t awake (Kai, Skylor, Kade, Misako and Lloyd. Astra didn’t sleep) and brought them to the very bowels of the ship. 

“I’ll be back in about two hours after I fuel  _ Nightwing  _ and rendezvous at the meet point. Stay safe, guys.” Skylor’s voice came from the cockpit. It was weak and a little shaky since she was still recovering, but Bica seemed to be recovering just fine. Astra, however, was not recovering so well. The punching bags in the tiny gym onboard were decayed and shredded to pieces of fluff and fabric.

“Be wary of the Venomari. Even if they are considered the weakest of all the Serpentine, fighting through hallucinations is not a laughing matter. Or a training exercise, as my husband might say. Stay safe.” Misako said.

Titanium shifted the straps of his parachute ever so slightly and took in a calming breath as the others calmed themselves. Even the Sim couldn't replace the true rush from skydiving. Kai received a beep on his watch which he just couldn’t tear his eyes away from. When he saw everyone staring at him expectantly, he chuckled nervously and turned off the notification.

“Sorry, just my dad wishing me luck.”

Astra mumbled something under her breath, then signalled for Skylor to let the floor drop. The panels slid down and out, letting in a whirlwind of strong wind that swirled around the drop cabin teasingly. 

“Don’t die,” Astra said, jumping as her words whipped away with the wind.

“Real helpful,” Kade commented dryly, leaping after her without any hesitation.

Charlie made sure Kai, Cole and Lloyd were on their way down (he had to threaten to push Lloyd off) before he jumped, grinning instead of whooping like he normally did in the Sim. It was instinctive to pull on his parachute without even looking at the meter. The giant canopy billowed with the wind, slowing his fall down as Charlie checked his other gear was secure. Astra and the rest of the squad were already on the ground a kilometre away from the caves, parachutes folded neatly into their packs.

Titanium commanded his wing shields to his arms, instantly more comfortable and confident with more metal with him. Astra made sure everyone had their weapons - Forge’s katanas, Arete’s scythe, Junior’s sabre and his hammer. She had her crossbow loaded and at her side, first preference of katana in her hands. They tore down the kilometre in no time at all, moving at a relatively fast space without a break needed at all.

Astra called a silent halt, gesturing for everyone to pull down their new ninja masks. In a moment of vainess, the Oni Squad grinned at each other, taking in the suits. Jay and Bells did their job well, that was for sure. Stretchy, practically invulnerable material had been woven with strands of their signature colours across the panels and seams, a sash running around their waists that double conveniently as a utility belt and weapon hanging space. The folds of their gi were iron pressed and crisp, markings Annabella had taken from the covers of each of their Archives, special to every elemental.

Charlie span his hammer a few good times for measure and followed Astra’s lead into the mouth of the Caves. There were old supports of mine shafts leading in five directions in the massive cove of rocks. Most of them had caved in with large boulders blocking the entrances, yellow sand over it. Forge, Aslec, Junior and Titanium started to head over to the only open shaft - the middle one. Charlie fisted his hand and thumped it against the top beam, startled as it snapped clean in half, little bugs scurrying out and over the rock face.

“Not that way,” Cole said quietly. He’d somehow gone from standing like an impassive boulder to kneeling on the ground, one hand buried in the sand and rock in a few seconds flat. His irises were orange when he opened his eyes again. “The fifth one.”

“And who exactly is telling you that? Mother Nature?” Kai snarked good naturedly. Or not. Titanium couldn’t tell with this guy sometimes. He could be worse than Astra if you really got him riled up. 

Cole nodded, orange eyes simmering with the Earth backing him. “It’s calling to me. I know that it’s down the fifth one, but I can sense boulders blocking it.”

“Get to it, Arete. We’ve got company.” Astra muttered with a curse. Titanium whipped around and thought a similar word in his mind. A scouting party of five Venomari had been sent ahead without rest, it seemed. They were tired but out for blood and hungry to report well back to their superiors. “Titanium, go help him. Forge, Aslec, Junior and I will hold them off.”

Astra pulled Kai back though, and whispered something into his ear, her face hard set and confident. Forge nodded, rubbing his hands together, flames sparking from his fingertips. Kai turned and shooed them all back, staring out at the Venomari soldiers with burning confidence literally smouldering off him. He took his katana from it’s back sheath, and in a massive plunge, stabbed the ground with the katana. 

A wall of fire sprung up from the ground, reaching from one end of the open side of the cove to the other. A barrier Kai couldn’t keep holding forever, by the sweating already dripping down his forehead. The katana he’d used to channel his powers was shaking in his hands as the fire continued burning brightly. Buying them more time.

Charlie ran over to where Cole was doing his Earth meditation routine, which encompassed a lot of deep breathing and closed eyes. Titanium set down his shields and concentrated hard, his ears their only warning system. The metal from the winged shields suddenly liquified, spiralling through the hot desert air to re-solidified into a more helpful contraption. Cole had ignored all of this though, and spread into a lunge as he pushed forwards on the big boulder blocking the entrance. Charlie commanded the metal to help Cole push with prongs that kept changing sizing.

It would have made him pass out if he’d been fourteen again. Metal manipulation was easy, and they needed Cole strong to get to the Scythe. Finally the entrance boulder gave with a final groan, rolling aside to reveal smaller ones. The two elementals didn’t have to even look at each other when they began pulling the rocks back away from the fifth mine shaft. Of all sizes, shapes and minerals, the rubble never seemed to end, but neither did Cole’s energy. Arete powered through his side of the rocks and then shifted to Titanium, tearing away at the pile until it was nothing.

His eyes still were glowing orange, a little dulled down with the rush of adrenaline dying down.

“Call them back before Forge passes out.” Cole advised, leaning on his knees since he was too tall to go walking in normally. “I’ll scout ahead to check the passage.”

Sprinting away, Titanium was glad Cole’s powers had suddenly amplified. Kai really was on the verge of passing out, the fire wall flickering between shimmering air and fierce orange flames. Charlie signalled to Astra from halfway across the cove, who gave the order to start retreating. Kai dragged his katana along with him as he staggered to the fifth entrance, the flames waning in and out. Kade was by the wooden beams, tugging Kai behind into the shadows of the entrance. Charlie rolled inside as Astra and Lloyd threw their backs into hauling the entrance stone back across.

“Move,” Cole hurried to the front and with a final heave along with Astra and Lloyd’s lean frames, closed the entrance. 

Oni Squad kept dead still as the Venomari shuffled outside. Pacing, with deliberate steps as they examined each of the entrances. Astra had used the firewall to block their vision, Charlie realised, but at the cost of Kai potentially passing out. Would it be worth it? Astra did not move, did not speak, did not blink to give away her thoughts.

“One is _ ss _ open, Lieutenant.” hissed a young voice. If Charlie had to make it into a weapon, it would have been barbed with thin spikes covering a bat. Brutal, and a bitch if you got hit with it. 

“S _ ss _ vanna, return to the camp bearing our news. Emperor Wu will be pleased.”

“Yes _ ss  _ Lieutenant,” returned Svanna eagerly, his footsteps retreating in the distance. The rest of the patrol continued shuffling to the middle entrance until they could hear them no longer. 

Astra waited a minute more, then held a bone-thin finger to her lips as a command for silence, beckoning them further down the passage. The rails for the cart had long since rusted over, earth and sand clumping over most of the iron rails. Charles was careful not to stir up the little metal down here. They’d obviously excavated and mined every inch of wealth down here, bleeding the earth dry. Cole had a disgusted expression on his face that deepend with every step they took.

“They mined here without knowing of the Scythe, for the iron and the gold that grew  _ because  _ of the Scythe. Violating a sacred space for greed.” Arete whispered, his hands fisted in anger. 

Astra shot him a silencing glare, undertone meaning  _ I understand, but shut the hell up _ . 

Titanium’s fingers flexed as he continued his search for more metal nuggets that had perhaps been missed by the miners, but apart from the rails, he couldn’t feel anything. It felt wrong, that was, until something that was metal -  _ more  _ than metal, called out to him. It didn’t speak or anything, just let him know it was there. 

“It’s close,” he and Cole said in unison. He let Cole continue as the five of them shoved themselves into nooks and crannies of the shadows and earth. “I can feel it, it’s like...talking to me.”

Kai sniggered. Lloyd thwacked him with the end of his sabre. Astra nodded approvingly and Titanium suddenly was aware that the Garmadon twins beginning to work together might not be such a good thing.

“Arete and I will go ahead. Aslec, go back up to the entrance and comm us if you hear anything from the Venomari. Forge, Junior and Titanium can stay behind. Charlie, you’re in charge.” Astra instructed calmly, her purple eyes still. No fire burning in them like they usually did when she fought.

“Who the hell is  _ Charlie _ ?” Kai snorted. This time, Astra let nothing but a whisper of her powers to snake around his mouth. It didn’t touch his skin, just hovered above it as warning. 

“I’m Charlie,” Charlie said, rolling his eyes. “And if you think that’s funny, my last name will have you rolling on the floor.”

Kai’s green eyes seemed to spark alive with red flames.

“Duckworth,” Charlie said, then a ribbon of iron floated over to Kai’s mouth as Astra’s powers disappeared back to her. The iron band was thin and Kai could easily snap it, but the joke seemed to lighten everyone’s pensive moods. 

Kade gave Astra one last look - of hatred, sadness, pity, Charlie couldn’t tell - then began half crawling and walking up to the entrance. Lloyd let himself sprawl out a bit more comfortably, flashing his sister a confident double thumbs up as Kai did the same, lying down on the ground with his hands tucked behind his head as a pillow. 

“Guess  _ I’m  _ going to be the responsible one,” Titanium muttered to himself. By Kai and Lloyd’s snickers, they heard him and were perfectly fine with it. Cole and Astra left with little bickering.

Two minutes passed.

Five, when he started making little iron hounds that ran all over the place.

Seven, when Kai got fed up and melted one with a spurt of fire.

Ten, when Lloyd asked Charlie, if by any chance, had he read a comic called Realm Raider?

Twenty, when Charlie knew everything about the Realm Raider, her companions and her adventures all the way up to the current issue, number twenty three.

Twenty five, when he, Lloyd and Kai heard the rumbling from down below. Roaring. 

Twenty seven, when Kade commed down and asked if they heard the shouting, rumbling and roaring.

Twenty eight, when Titanium realised that the mineshaft roof was starting to tremble even more, threatening to collapse and shouted down his comm for Astra and Cole to get out of there, Kai and Lloyd running up towards Kade with their weapons strapped to their backs. Their expressions didn’t betray much.

Thirty minutes, when Cole and Astra scrambled up towards their little huddle outside the fifth mineshaft, a glowing scythe strapped to Cole’s back as he spat out a mouth of blood.

“Astra’s a fucking liar.” he declared, squinting behind him.

“Why?”

“There might be a dragon after us,” Astra offered calmly. “So we should probably get out of here before it eats us all.”

—

**A/N: DRAGONNNNNNN. I am in fact ignoring my maths assignment due tomorrow to write this, but i work best under pressure :) So now we have the Serpentine introduced in case you didn’t catch that incredibly obvious hint i dropped earlier. You can expect either long ass chapters for getting the golden weapons, or two chapters per weapon. Switchin it up.**

**This chapter’s song is ‘snap out of it’ by the arctic monkeys**

**This chapter’s Q is: the best song. Like, ever. Only one, choose *holds up crossbow* now.**

**My A: YOUR NEW BOYFRIEND BY WILBUR SOOT. and about a thousand others but i said only one, people.**

**-dommie out**


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